


In the Lap of the Gods

by Disasteriffic_Kaz



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 17:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1478191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Disasteriffic_Kaz/pseuds/Disasteriffic_Kaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Massachusetts is a lot more inviting without bands of angry little Fae to ruin your day. Post 6x14 "Mannequin 3: The Reckoning" a little hurt, a little comfort and a lot of awesome from our boys and Bobby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This one is a request from my Other Brother who wanted some Pukwudgie action…and tasteless jokes from Dean. Lol I also decided to tie this one in with a sort of request a while back from my lovely Beta who wanted some more in-depth angst between Bobby and Sam with fallout from soulless Sam trying to kill him.
> 
> Beta'd by the always awesome JaniceC678 :D– Friend and Muse's co-conspirator.
> 
> **Follow me on Facebook as "Disasteriffic Kaz" for frequent fic updates or just to chat!  
> ~Reviews are Love~

_**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-** _

_No beginning there's no ending_  
There's no meaning in my pretending  
Believe me life goes on and on and on  
Forgive me when I ask you where do I belong  
You say I can't set you free from me  
But that's not true  
It's in the lap of the gods.

_~Queen_

**Chapter 1**

Sam looked up and smirked as Dean found yet another lame reason to walk past him on Bobby's porch. As if he didn't know full well his big brother was checking up on him. Dean's 'take care of Sam' gene had hit an all-time high after his…seizure. Sam shook his head minutely. Dean had told him what it had looked like, but he still found it hard to picture himself like that. He looked back down at his laptop and the articles he was scrolling through looking for another job. It was cold out and he'd have been more comfortable inside, but there was a tightness in Bobby's face every time Sam was in the room that Sam just couldn't handle sometimes. It made his heart hurt to see actual fear around the eyes of the man he considered a second father. Sam chuckled…more like a third father as Dean ambled up to the porch again.

He had been horrified when he'd learned what he had done, what he had nearly succeeded in doing if not for Dean's timely arrival, and he had desperately tried to communicate that to Bobby and apologize…repeatedly…since then. And Bobby said all the right words, accepting his apology, at least on the surface, but there was still obvious doubt and mistrust simmering just below the surface that Sam just didn't know how to fix.

"Find anything?" Dean asked and leaned against the railing, cleaning engine grease from his hands.

"Maybe." Sam nodded. "There've been some strange deaths in Massachusetts in a state forest."

"How strange?" Dean moved to look over his shoulder at the screen.

"Some poisonings. Couple people burned alive with no trace of accelerant. One guy they found riddled with, get this, porcupine quills of unusual size."

"What the hell does that mean, unusual size?" Dean asked in surprise.

"Bigger than normal. Something used the guy as a pincushion." Sam tapped the screen over the page he was looking at. "There's also a long history of people being lured or shoved to their deaths off a cliff in the park. The Watuppa Indians in the area attribute all of this to Pukwudgies."

"Puk-what?" Dean snorted. "Pukwedgies?"

"Wudgies." Sam corrected with a roll of his eyes.

"Nasty bastards is what they are." Bobby said as he stepped out onto the porch, having overheard the conversation. "Worse, there's no such thing as just one of 'em. They live in nests. Most of 'em been wiped out by Hunters over the years, but every once in a while, a nest pops up and starts raisin' hell."

"Awesome." Dean groaned. "Just how I wanna spend my day, bein' chased around a forest by an angry herd of wedgies."

Sam snorted. "Dude. Wudgie. Pukwudgie."

Bobby huffed a laugh and then sobered, looking sideways at Sam and then back to Dean. "You boys'll need help to clear out the nest. I'm comin'."

"How do we gank these things?" Dean followed Bobby back inside with Sam behind him.

"Iron." Bobby said simply. "For once, you can just shoot the little bastards."

"Nice." Dean grinned. "That makes things easier."

Bobby nodded and smiled in agreement. "Lore's kinda sketchy but most sources think they used to be Fae."

"Hence the iron weakness." Sam nodded. "Wait, Fae? That means magic, glamours and crap."

Bobby nodded. "They use magic to lure their prey. Rufus and I hunted a nest of 'em once, long time ago." Bobby rolled his eyes with the memory. "'bout damn near led me off a cliff thinkin' I was chasin' Rufus' ugly ass. Didn't lemme hear the end of it for years."

Dean chuckled, easily imagining Rufus driving Bobby to shouting with embarrassment. "Friggin' Faeries. Gonna have to put that stinky crap on our eyes aren't we?"

Sam nodded with a laugh. "St. John's Wort and it doesn't smell that bad."

"There's a stash of the oil out in the storage shed, Sam." Bobby waved a hand in the general direction.

"I'll go get it." Sam took it for what it was, a request for his absence, and left with that tight feeling in his chest again.

Dean waited until the front door banged shut and looked over at Bobby with raised brows. "This gonna be a problem, you workin' with us?" He fixed Bobby with an irritated look. "Or aren't you done kickin' him yet?"

He got it, Bobby's reluctance to be in Sam's presence, but that didn't make it any easier to watch. It was hard to trust someone who'd tried to kill you, even if Sam's soul hadn't been around for the ride.

"I ain't kickin' him." Bobby snarled and sat behind his desk. "I don't have a problem."

"Uh huh." Dean wasn't convinced but was at a loss as to what he could do to 'fix' them other than to give Bobby time to work it out on his own. "I'll go pack." Unfortunately, while Bobby was figuring out how to trust his little brother again, Sam's heart was being torn up, and that was plain as day for Dean to see.

Bobby looked away guiltily from Dean's receding back and looked out the window instead. He couldn't stop the small flinch as Sam's tall form walked in front of the window back to the house. Every time he looked at the kid, he saw the monster, and he just couldn't get past it; couldn't accept that there wasn't still a part of Sam that would happily kill him given the chance. How in hell was he ever supposed to trust him again?

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Dean reached over and slapped his brother's shoulder to wake him up. "We're here, princess."

Sam groaned and tried to stretch, elbows bumping the ceiling and scowled. "You're a jerk." He looked up and watched Bobby's truck ahead of them bounce into a parking lot in front of a long, log building. "What's this place?"

"Some kinda hunting lodge." Dean smirked. "Appropriate. Bobby says they rent cabins out back, and this time of year they should be pretty empty. Says he knows the owner."

"Huh. Well that could make things less complicated." Sam watched Bobby's truck pull up to the front of the building, and the older climbed out and waved them in.

"We're gonna be chasin' midget Fae through the damn forest. I'm all for less complicated." Dean grumbled. He wasn't looking forward to this job. The Fae had a way of turning things back on you before you even realized it was happening. Dean pulled up beside Bobby's truck, parked, and climbed out with a groan as his joints protested twelve hours behind the wheel.

Sam rolled his eyes as he got out. "You know, you could have let me drive."

"Nope. I really couldn't," Dean said firmly, though he smiled. There was no way he wanted Sam behind the wheel of any car, let alone his baby, never knowing when his wall was gonna spring another leak and turn him into seizure-boy again. He shuddered just at the thought of that happening on the freeway at ninety miles an hour.

"Let's go meet the owner." Bobby headed for the doors at the front of the lodge. "Barry's a bit of an oddball, but he's good people."

"Define 'oddball'." Dean said with a laugh. "'Cause you know, pot, kettle." He waved a hand at Bobby.

"Son, don't think I'm too old to drop your ass in the dirt. Smartin' off at me," Bobby grumbled, yanked the door open, and slapped the back of Dean's head as he went past.

Sam chuckled but quickly choked it back when he saw the flinch in Bobby's eyes as he passed by him. He hung his head and stood back, letting Bobby walk past. Part of him wished he could remember what he'd almost done to Bobby; hearing about it from Cas and remembering it were two very different things, and the more self-protective part of him was glad that he couldn't. He wasn't sure he could cope with any part of himself that would actually want to murder Bobby.

"Stop thinkin' so hard." Dean startled his brother, slapping his arm and nodded when Sam's eyes whipped to his. Dean shook his head and followed Bobby to the counter.

"Bobby Singer. 'Bout damn time you got yer ass back up this way." The elderly, white-haired man behind the counter grinned and vigorously shook the hand Bobby put out.

"Barry. I was tryin' to steer clear of your cookin'." Bobby smirked and turned. "These are John Winchester's boys, Dean and Sam."

"Winchester! There's a name I ain't heard nothin' good about in a while." Barry raised a brow as he looked at the young men and then grinned. "But Hunters are a bunch o' twice-blasted idiots, so that ain't exactly a surprise. You're welcome here anytime. John was a good man."

Dean wiped the scowl that had started from his face and shook the offered hand. "Nice to meet you, Barry…I think."

Sam shook his hand as well and tried not to flinch under the heavy stare the man gave him before he smiled finally. He stepped back and tried not to look as guilty as he felt.

"Glad you boys have come up here to deal with those damn Pukwudgies." Barry shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Most of the time they're just a damn menace, lead the occasional tourist astray, but damn if they haven't been offin' the locals lately."

"How long has this nest been active?" Sam asked, curious that the man had apparently known about them for some time and not called in anyone to deal with it.

"Oh, a decade or more, I suppose." Barry shrugged. "Like I said, never really been more than a nuisance 'til now." He reached under the counter and came back up with two keys attached to wooden placards. "Got'cher keys to your cabins out back. Only got a few guests here in the lodge." He laid a finger along his nose. "Kept the cabins empty for ya."

Bobby took one of the keys and tossed it to Dean. "Why don't you boys go get settled while Barry and I go over where he thinks the nest is." He raised a brow at the old man. "I know you been thinkin' about it since before you called me."

Barry chuckled. "Never could put nothin' over on you, Singer. Yeah, I do. Come on."

Dean nodded at Bobby and gave his brother's shoulder a push toward the door. Once outside, he took a sidelong look at him and the clearly miserable expression Sam was doing a piss-poor job of hiding. "He'll get over it, Sammy."

Sam glanced at him in surprise and then shook his head. "It's alright, Dean. I deserve it. I can handle it."

Dean snarled softly, wanting to explain to Sam…again…that he didn't deserve crap. As far as Dean was concerned, Sam had a clean slate. He'd have to figure out how to get that through Bobby's thick skull before Sam started flogging himself for penance or something equally stupid his geek brain might come up with.

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"God…oh, God…this isn't happening." Christopher Rollings chanted to himself as he ran, slapping limbs out of his way as he pelted through the forest. The sound of snapping twigs, running feet, and barely heard laughter followed him, straining already frayed nerves and putting the sting of panicked tears in his eyes. He risked a glance over his shoulder, but, as before, saw nothing but the forest. He cried out as his right foot caught a trailing tree root and threw him to the ground. He rolled to a stop and scrambled to his knees, then back to his feet.

"Stay away from me!" He shouted and started running again with the tears now falling. "Joe…shit, Joe! Where are you?"

"Chris!"

"Joe!" Christopher yelled as he heard his friend's voice from up ahead. He put on more speed as the sounds behind him picked up even louder and the faint laughter became darker…vicious. He wished now that they'd listened to the old man at the lodge when he'd said to stay out of the forest. "Should'a listened. God, we should'a…should have…Joe!"

"Keep coming!"

Christopher heaved for breath and a pain stitched in his side from too much running without a rest. He ignored it. He gasped in relief when he saw Joe ahead in the trees, waving him frantically on.

"Hurry up! They're coming!"

"O…ok!" Christopher managed through burning lungs and ran with everything he had. He neared Joe. He broke through the trees, reaching for his friend...and screamed as he stepped into open air as his voice followed him down the cliff and to his death.

_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_

"Ok, these are pretty damn nice compared to the crap-holes we usually end up in." Dean admired the outside of the rustic log cabin while Sam opened the door.

"Nice in here too." Sam said as he flipped on the lights and then smirked. "Well, except for the taxidermy explosion." The cabin was a large, warm room in natural woods with blankets tossed here and there over a low couch and two chairs, a table on the other side of the room, and a large television that Dean smiled at and ran a finger over appreciatively. The walls and every available horizontal surface were decorated with mounted heads and various small critters, stuffed and posed.

Dean poked at two stuffed chipmunks next to the tv and snorted. "I can live with Chip and Dale here as long as the tv picks up Skin-imax."

"You start watching cheesy soft porn, I'm bunking with Bobby," Sam laughed and went to a door beside the small refrigerator and flicked on the bedroom light. "Nice." Two king size beds filled the room with another door to the bathroom, dresser, and a small table jammed between the beds.

Dean came in behind him, tossed his bag on the bed nearest the door automatically and then rolled onto it with a grateful groan. "Oh, yeah, baby."

Sam smirked. "I'll leave you two alone." He went back outside and to the trunk, grabbed his bag and the weapons bag and went back inside. He peeked in the bedroom and sure enough, Dean had fallen into a light sleep, unsurprising after twelve hours behind the wheel. He chuckled softly and went about making the cabin safe. He was in the middle of drawing a devil's trap on the bottom of the rug by the door when Bobby opened it and nearly banged it into his head.

"Geez, Bobby. Knock and warn a guy next time." Sam chuckled, finished the trap and stood.

"Right. Sorry. Where's Dean?" Bobby looked around the room expectantly.

Sam nodded to the bedroom. "Snoring. He needs a little longer after that drive."

Bobby stood awkwardly in the cabin door while Sam, not so surreptitiously moved away from him to give him space. He shook his head at himself and came inside. "Little cabin warmin' present from Barry." Bobby held up a case of beer and set it on the little breakfast table. He took a map out of his pocket and set it on the table, took out two beers, and held one out to Sam.

"Uh, thanks." Sam took it with a tentative smile, twisting the cap off. "So how far in are we gonna have to hike?"

Bobby opened the map and spread it out, using the six-pack to hold one side down. "Few miles."

"I heard beer." Dean emerged from the bedroom rubbing his eyes.

Sam snorted a laugh and handed his to his brother. "Here." He grabbed his coat and shrugged it back on. "I'll go find us some food."

"Dude, you're not driving." Dean reached for the keys on the table but Sam grabbed them first.

"I'm fine, Dean." Sam rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

Dean watched him go with a frown. "Don't crash my car!" He looked over at Bobby's raised brows and scowled. "What?"

"Nothin'." Bobby sat at the table and took a pull on his beer. "We got some hikin' to do. Barry thinks the nest is maybe back here somewhere." He pointed to a circled area on the map as Dean sat across from hm. "There's hikers, campers, and hunters all through the forest, but this area near the cliff seems to be where most of the deaths and attacks are happenin'."

Dean studied the topographical map, trying not to twitch as he listened to the Impala's engine start up and pull away and frowned. "Man, that's gonna be a bitch of a hike."

Bobby nodded. "Forest is damn dense in there. Barry says you can get three feet from your buddy and lose sight of him."

"So, good place to split people up and take them out." Dean narrowed his eyes at the map and the cliff marked on it. "He have any idea how many of these little bastards we're looking for?"

"Nope." Bobby shook his head and leaned back. "Could be two or three. Could be a dozen. No way to know 'til we find 'em."

"Awesome." Dean groaned and emptied his beer. "Don't suppose you've got a machine gun in your truck?"

Bobby chuckled. "And have to listen to you tearin' up the cars in my lot all day with it? Hell, no. I know better."

Dean grinned and shrugged, knowing he would happily unload a machine gun all day just for kicks. He set the empty bottle on the table and pulled another out of the pack. "When you wanna start this shindig?"

"Got one survivor from a few days ago in the local hospital." Bobby shrugged. "Might have seen how many of them there were before they pinchushioned his ass."

"Wait, his ass?" Dean snorted and then laughed. "Ouch."

Bobby smirked. "Figure we could go talk to him tonight and hike out in the morning. Not enough daylight left today."

"Let's boogie then." Dean stood, drained the new beer and went into the bedroom after his coat. "I'll text Sam, let him know where we're going."

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Sam set the take-out bags on the seat beside him and pulled his ringing phone out. He read the quick message from Dean and sighed. "Guess there's no rush to get the food back hot." He started up the car and rather than head back to the cabins, he decided to drop by the local police station.

Freetown-Fall was a small town with old buildings that gave it the look of having been forgotten by time except for the Biggerson's restaurant Sam had stopped at. He found the police station easily enough and parked around the side in relative privacy. He pulled his FBI badge from the glove box and got out. Sam popped the trunk and pulled his suit out of his bag, quickly changing into the shirt and jacket. He closed the trunk and tucked his shirt into his jeans; unwilling to drop his pants in public and smirked at what Dean would have had to say. He finished tying his tie and pulled open the door, stepping inside.

The squad room, contrary to the orderly place Sam had been expecting, was in a state of chaos. Several officers were trying to restrain a very large man who roared unintelligibly and tossed one of the cops aside like he weighed nothing.

"Dammit! GET HIM DOWN!" A man shouted from the back of the room and waded into the fight.

Sam watched as the man - the sheriff, according to his badge - was thrown like the other, and the remaining two officers tried to overwhelm the enraged guy. Sam groaned, rolled his shoulders and stepped into the fray.

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_To Be Continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sam took hold of an arm and was thrown. His back slapped painfully into a desk and he groaned. "Ok. That hurt." He scrambled back to his feet as the brawler turned to the two officers still standing and sucked in a breath. "This is gonna suck." Sam lunged at the man's back and wrapped his arms around the man's at the shoulder in a wrestling move Dean had often used on him when they were teenagers. He knew from experience how hard it was to get out of if the person using it was bigger than you, and Sam had the advantage in height if not in body mass. The brawling man easily outweighed him in muscle, and, while he couldn't free his arms from Sam's hold, it didn't stop him roaring again and slamming back into the wall. Sam grunted with the impact and tucked his head into the neck in front of him while he kept his hold.

"Anytime…you guys…wanna restrain this guy!" Sam yelled. "Sooner would be…umph…better."

"Hang on to him!" An officer shouted and slapped the chest of his partner. "You get his legs. I'll grab his head and get him on the floor!"

"Get his legs? Right." The other officer groaned and then dove in, wrapping himself around the brawler's legs while the other cop wrapped an arm around the man's head.

Sam anticipated the hasty plan and planted one foot on the wall behind, pushing off as the officer pulled and they went to the floor in a heap, overbalancing the man until he landed on his face. Sam kept his hold on him in the new position with difficulty. "What the hell's…this guy on?"

"I dunno. Pulled him outta the forest this way!" The officer next to Sam released the man's head and pulled out his cuffs. He slapped one bracelet around the man's flailing left wrist and looked over to Sam. "Ready?"

Sam rolled his eyes with a smirk. "No." He tensed his grip on the brawler's right arm and rose off, trusting the officer to control the left arm but the cop lost his grip and Sam took a hard elbow to his ribcage as he rolled to the side. "Shit!" Somehow, he managed to retain control of the other arm and the second officer was there, helping to guide the right hand up behind the man's back until it was handcuffed as well. All three men fell back gasping while the brawler writhed and yelled on the floor, unable to get free.

"Officer Treadwell." The man who'd grabbed the brawler's head grinned at Sam. "That's my partner, Officer Javi."

"Agent Sam Sanders." Sam waved his right hand in greeting and then thumped back to the floor while he wrapped it around his ribs on the left side. "FBI. Holy crap."

"Man, did you pick the wrong time to come for a visit." Officer Javi said and started chuckling.

Sam couldn't help it and laughed along while the endorphins began to bleed away. "No…no kidding." He gasped and carefully pushed himself back up until he was sitting against a desk.

"You ok, Agent?" Treadwell looked him over, not liking the sudden pallor of the agent's face or the way he was cradling his ribs. "That was a hell of a crack he gave you." He thumped a fist on the brawler's head where he was still howling. "Shuddup already! You're done!"

"I'm good." Sam managed through now clenched teeth and smiled to try and prove it.

Treadwell snorted. "Yeah, he's full of crap. Javi, call a bus wouldja?"

"On it." Officer Javi stood and whistled. "Chief's still out. Brett and Randy too."

"I'm gonna drag Captain Dumbass here into a cell. You…" Treadwell aimed a finger at Sam. "…stay put."

Sam rolled his eyes but made no move to get up. He'd tried and just after his ribs had protested, his back had spasmed enough to make him grunt. "Got it. Staying."

Javi clipped his radio back to his vest and looked at Sam. "Not that your help wasn't appreciated just now, but what are you doing here anyway?"

"Ah, the, uh, bureau wanted me to check out the deaths." Sam shrugged and then hissed in a breath as that proved to be a mistake. "Kinda thinking I should have sent my partner in here today." He smirked and tried to sit up again. Once more his back and ribs protested, and he dropped back into the desk.

"Pretty sure Joe told you to stay put." Javi said with a laugh and went to check on his fellow officers.

Sam groaned. "Dean's gonna kill me."

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Dean stood in the door of the survivor's room and sighed. "I thought you said this guy was a survivor?" The man in the bed was damn near mummified in bandages with one leg raised up in traction and a multitude of tubes running out of him under the bandages and sheets.

"He's alive, ain't he? I never said what condition he was in." Bobby growled. "See if you can't wake him up. I'll go track down his doc."

"What are we, feds or family?" Dean asked with a brow raised and watched Bobby fish a wallet out of his vest.

"Reporters." Bobby smiled. "I know how you love playin' Lois Lane." He snorted a laugh as Dean flipped him off and went out to the nurses station. "'Scuse me, darlin'." Bobby leaned on the desk and smiled at the young, brunette woman behind it. "I'm lookin' for Andy Phelps' doctor. He around?"

She smiled up at him. "He's around here somewhere. Actually, I think I heard him paged to the emergency room a minute or two ago." She pointed down the hall to the elevators. "Dr. Macy. You should try downstairs."

"Thanks." Bobby nodded and headed for the elevator. He rode down with a janitor and his bucket that reeked of bleach. His nose was burning and eyes watering by the time he got off and gratefully left the man behind. He rubbed irritably at his eyes and followed the sounds of controlled chaos down the hall to the emergency room. Nurses and doctors walked hurriedly back and forth from curtain-obscured bed to curtain-obscure bed, orders were yelled, and he heard one man somewhere roaring angrily.

Bobby stopped one nurse with a hand on her arm. "I'm lookin' for Dr. Macy."

"Oh, uh…that way, I think." She dimpled a smile and dashed away.

"Alrighty then." Bobby rolled his eyes for the less than helpful staff and went down a few rows until he spotted a man in scrubs. "Don't suppose you're Dr. Macy?"

"Actually, yes." Dr. Macy smiled in a distracted sort of way. "I'm a little busy right now." He waved an arm to the obviously unconscious officer lying on the bed.

"Right. I just wanted to ask about the condition of Andy Phelps." Bobby held up his reporter's ID. "Won't take long."

"Oh, for…ok. Just give me a minute here." Dr. Macy rolled his eyes. "Try not to get in the way."

Bobby scowled and stepped back into the curtain so no one would run him over. He glanced around the emergency room and saw another cop sitting up and holding his head. "What happened to these guys?"

"We're guessing a PCP crazed man." Dr. Macy answered absently while he checked the officer's vitals. "Apparently, he tore up the police station before they were able to subdue him." He looked up as the angry roar carried through the air again. "That's him."

"Bad day to be a cop." Bobby observed and then froze when a curtain at the other end of the aisle was whisked open. There was no mistaking Sam even with his back to him. The youngest Winchester was sitting up and arguing with two nurses trying to push him down. "What the hell…" Bobby took a step toward him instinctively, but then he stopped, the familiar, nagging fear rising up into his throat, and that mistrust made him turn away. "I'll uh…go wait in Andy's room."

"Fine. Good." Dr. Macy looked up long enough to make eye contact and went back to his patient.

Bobby slipped out of the emergency room and rode the elevator back upstairs, hating himself a little all the way. Sam was sitting up, he consoled himself. "Can't be that bad then." Bobby muttered as the doors opened and went back to Andy's room. Still, the kid had to be hurt to have ended up in the emergency room in the first place. And just how the hell had THAT happened? He stopped in the door, looking at Dean and suddenly realized there was no good reason he could give for what he just did, either to himself or to Dean. The boy he had loved like a son was sitting in a hospital emergency room, and he hadn't been able to bring himself to go over to see what had happened to him.

"You find him?" Dean asked and then frowned at the strange look on Bobby's face. "What?"

"Sam's downstairs in the ER." Bobby said it like ripping off a band-aid. "He looked fine though, sittin' up and everything."

"What?" Dean jumped out of the chair he'd been sitting in to stare in disbelief at Bobby. "And you just left him there alone? What the hell, Bobby? What happened?" Dean stalked past him and ran to the elevator, leaving him to stay or follow; not really caring which at that moment but he wasn't surprised when he got on the elevator and Bobby was beside him, mumbling something about a ruckus down at the police station which did nothing to calm Dean's nerves. Dean took a couple deep breaths as his irritation with Bobby and his brother reached a head. "You gotta button this shit up, Bobby, 'cause this ain't happening again." He glared angrily at the older man with every ounce of the protective streak he carried for his brother in his eyes.

"Balls, Dean. It ain't like the boy's bleedin' out." Bobby knew Dean had a right to be angry. Walking away from Sam hadn't been his best move ever, but it wasn't as bad as Dean was making it out to be.

Dean opened his mouth and then snapped it closed to avoid saying something he couldn't take back. He was out of the elevator before the doors opened the all the way and had no trouble finding his brother in the busy emergency room, going unerringly to the right cubicle like a homing beacon. His brother was sitting up in a bed, arguing with a doctor and two male nurses trying to get his shirt off him.

"I'm fine." Sam said angrily. "I just need my phone, and I need to get out of…"

"Sammy." Dean went around the side of the bed and pushed one of the nurses away. "What happened and why didn't you call me?"

Sam groaned and dropped his arms. "I was going to, but they took my jacket and the phone's in the pocket…"

"I'm betting Agent Sanders has several bruised ribs, front and back, but he won't cooperate long enough for me to get an x-ray." The doctor beside the bed looked at Dean. "Are you his partners?" He raised a brow for Dean and Bobby's street clothes.

"Yeah. We were off duty." Dean said smoothly and aimed a glare at his brother. "Take your damn shirt off and let them do their thing while you tell me how you ended up here. You just went out to get some lunch. What the hell happened?"

Sam rolled his eyes and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Fine. I got your message that you guys were coming here, so I decided to stop by the police station on my way back. I get there, and this guy's going bat-shit crazy. Knocked out three cops, and I helped the last two take him down." He shrugged, winced and hunched over. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh." Dean shook his head and his eyes went wide as the nurses pulled Sam's shirt off. His left side was a deep purple bruise over his ribs, and, as Dean leaned around to look at his back, he blanched. It was one big bruise down his back. "You took him down…just like that?"

"There may have been a wall involved, and maybe a desk." Sam said between his teeth while the doctor poked at his side. "Crap!"

Bobby stood back in stunned silence. He'd walked away from Sam like this and felt a little extra twist of guilt when Sam shot a hand out to grasp his brother's arm while they examined his back.

"Easy, buddy." Dean let Sam hold on to him. If that's what he needed to grit his teeth through the exam, he was fine with it.

"Well, I think you got off lucky." The doctor straightened and peeled off his gloves. "I don't feel anything broken, but we're taking an x-ray just to be sure. In the meantime, lay back and let the nurses get something in you for the pain." He smiled and picked up Sam's chart, wrote a couple hasty notes and stepped away. "I'll be back with the x-ray machine."

"Lay down, dude." Dean ordered and helped his brother to lie back slowly.

"It's no big deal, really." Sam assured him. "I got a little banged up. One of the cops hasn't even woken up yet."

Bobby watched Sam wave toward the curtained bed he'd been at earlier. "One guy took out all of you?"

Sam nodded. "The cops think he was on PCP or something." He looked up to Dean. "But Officer Treadwell said they pulled him out of the forest like that."

Dean's brows went up. "Well, that can't be a coincidence."

"That's what I was thinking. Puk…" Sam broke off, remembering there was a nurse still standing next to his bed. "…uh…could be related to our case."

Bobby nodded in agreement. Pukwudgies were magic users and it was more than likely they'd done something to the poor guy. "I'm gonna go back upstairs and wait for Adam's doc."

"Good idea," Dean said and gave Bobby a blistering look before turning back to his brother. He smirked. "You gonna give me my arm back someday?"

"Huh?" Sam looked down and realized he was still holding on to his brother. "Sorry." He blushed lightly, feeling like a little kid and let go, putting his hand over his ribs instead. "That was like wrestling Andre the Giant, dude." He looked up at Dean with a lopsided grin. "I used that wrestling move you used to nail me with when I was still shorter than you.

Dean laughed, surprised. "Nice one, Sammy."

"How long have you two agents known each other?" The nurse suddenly broke in to ask in surprise.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Grew up together and joined the feds together." He shrugged. "It's almost like we're brothers or something."

Sam snorted a laugh and then sighed happily as the painkiller began to work through him, closing his eyes. "Oh, hell yeah; that's better."

Dean chuckled. "Morphine?" He asked the nurse who nodded. "He's gonna be loopy as hell in another minute."

"You can stay with him until the doctor comes back. He'll be fine." The nurse smiled at Dean and slipped out between the curtains.

"Why're you mad at Bobby?" Sam asked.

"What? Dude, you're high." Dean dismissed the question and gave Sam his best innocent look.

"M'not." Sam licked his lips and snorted again. "Ok, I am, but tha's not the point. The point…the point is…" Sam frowned. "What was I saying?"

"Take a nap, dopey." Dean laughed and pulled a stool over to sit and wait.

Sam wanted to keep arguing about…something, but the morphine slid a drugged haze over his thoughts and he let his head roll back to the bed and drifted. He startled when he felt something cold being slid under his back.

"Take it easy." Dean kept a hand on Sam's shoulder and waited until his glazed eyes tracked up to meet his. "X-ray time." He watched the doctor ease the portable machine next to the bed and swing the arm out over his brother's chest.

"You'll need to step back please." The doctor told Dean kindly.

Dean scowled but did as he was told, giving Sam's shoulder a squeeze before he moved away. The process only took a couple of minutes and Sam was dozing again by the time the doctor rolled the machine away. Dean jerked his head to the side as someone roared angrily from the other side of the emergency room. "What the hell is that?"

"The man who took out your partner and several police officers." The doctor shook his head. "Whatever he's on, we haven't figured it out yet and it doesn't seem to be wearing off."

Dean gave Sam another look, sure that he would be senseless for a little while longer and unaware of his absence before he started down the aisle. He wanted to see the man that had taken him out and maybe confirm what they suspected. He slipped between two curtains and found the guy strapped to a bed and shackled to the rails and still straining to get free. His face was red with exertion, as were his bare arms and chest, and the heart monitor attached to him beeped so emphatically it was nearly a solid tone. Dean glanced around to be sure no one was watching and went to the bed.

"Hey, ugly." Dean said softly and smiled. "Don't mind me. Just wanna see if midget wedgies got their claws into you." He didn't see any marks out of place on the man's arms or chest and the guy was glaring death at Dean, practically foaming at the mouth. "Easy, killer." Dean moved away down to his feet and quickly tugged up one pant leg. Finding nothing, he pulled it down and yanked the other one up and blew out a breath. "Damn. Sam's right." There were several small punctures on the man's calf, and faint, green lines radiating out from each. He tugged the leg of the man's pants back down to his ankle and stepped away. "Sorry, pal." Dean slipped between the curtains again while the brawler roared in his restraints and went back to his brother.

Sam was starting to rouse when Dean reached the bed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Doc?" Dean asked while the man put held an x-ray up to the light. "He crack any eggs?"

The doctor smiled. "No. Nothing broken. The x-ray's clear." He set it aside and pulled out a prescription pad. "He'll just be sore for a while. Here. Muscle relaxer and a painkiller. These should have him right in a few days provided he takes it easy."

"Thanks, doc." Dean took the slip of paper, tucked it into his pocket and then froze as the brawler roared again only this time it was followed by a chorus of screams. "Son of a bitch. He's loose."

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_To Be Continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The sound of things crashing and a nurse's screams echoed through the emergency room, and Dean grabbed Sam's arm, sitting him up. "Time to go, Sammy." The doctor took off toward the commotion and Dean steadied his swaying brother. "Dude. Come on."

Sam shook his head, trying to come out of the drug-induced fog. "M'here. Le's go."

Dean pulled him off the bed, grabbed Sam's jacket from the end, and half dragged, half carried him out of the curtained cubicle and into the aisle. He turned at the sound of another of the brawler's roars and groaned. "Not good." The large man was in the aisle with three men in nurse's scrubs hanging off him, trying to control him. Dean backed them toward the hall with the elevator.

"S'gonna hurt someone." Sam said, voice heavy with concern even as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Gotta do somethin'."

"You're not doing anything. Move." Dean kept them backing away, unwilling to let his now high little brother get steamrolled a second time.

"What the hell's goin' on?"

Dean turned, grateful to see Bobby. "Here! Take him!" Dean passed Sam off to Bobby. "Get him outta here."

"Dean, what…" Bobby started but the elder Winchester was already jogging away toward the brawl in the center of the aisle. He grunted as Sam's weight settled on his shoulder and then Sam was trying to pull away.

"M'ok. Go…go help him." Sam tried to pull free of Bobby, knowing the older man wouldn't be comfortable with him so close.

Bobby spent only a second considering leaving Sam to help Dean and shook his head. Dean would knock him out if he left Sam again. "Come on." He steadied Sam and pulled him into the hall. "Stop fightin' me dammit. Dean'll be fine." He got a better grip around Sam's bare chest. "We're goin' to the truck."

Sam gave up trying to get away and took more of his weight off Bobby's shoulders. The morphine they'd given him was slowly starting to let up and with it, the pain began to make a reappearance. Sam lurched to a stop suddenly. "Crap! Bobby!" He grabbed hold of the older man's vest, not seeing the flinch in Bobby's eyes and stared in horror. "Dean's baby got left behind at the police station! S'gonna kill me!"

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Dean ducked under a monitor hurled by the raging man and circled him. Hospital security had finally showed up in the form of two overweight guards, one of whom was on the ground and not moving already. Dean considered grappling with the man as Sam had done and shook his head; the guy was too hyped up on whatever the pukwudgies had done to him. He shook out his arms instead, curled his hand into a fist and waited for his opening. Dean ignored the other guard when he shouted for Dean to get away.

"Come on, big guy." Dean muttered. He caught one of the male nurses as he was spun away and steadied the guy before dismissing him and locking eyes with the brawler. He waited just a moment for the man's eyes to look away and then lunged in. Dean put all his strength behind his arm and landed a solid, painful punch to the brawler's face, just between his eyes. It snapped the man's head back and Dean threw another, spinning the poor guy's head around and then watched as he slowly toppled like a tree into a nearby gurney.

"Holy crap!" Dean exclaimed and shook out his hand, backing away as medical staff converged on the now unconscious man.

"Did you have to assault him?" A doctor asked with a glare for Dean.

"You have a better idea?" Dean demanded. "You're welcome." He turned and stalked out, rubbing his sore knuckles and headed down the hall and outside; figuring that's where Bobby would have taken his brother.

"Dean!" Bobby called when he saw him emerge from the building and waved him over. "What happened?"

"I knocked him out." Dean grinned and shrugged. "Doctors are kinda pissed at me."

Bobby shook his head, chuckled and grabbed Dean's right hand before he could walk past to the passenger side of the truck. "Lemme see." He held up Dean's hand, looking at the bruised and swollen knuckles and snorted. "Way to make friends, slugger."

Dean laughed and pulled his hand free. "How's Sam?"

"Loopy." Bobby rolled his eyes and climbed behind the wheel, having to push Sam back up straight from where he'd started to slump into the driver's seat.

Dean got in and pulled Sam up. "Where'd you leave my car?"

"Uh oh." Sam said and snorted a laugh.

"Cop shop." Bobby told the highly amused look on Dean's face. "I'll swing by."

Dean slapped his brother's hand away from his face. "Knock it off."

"Your face is funny." Sam grinned and let Dean push him back into the seat.

"My face is gonna kick your ass in a minute." Dean growled and rolled his eyes when Sam started laughing. "Shuddup, fun boy."

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"You ever get to talk to Andy or his doctor?" Dean asked Bobby as he came out of the bedroom. Sam was still sprawled on his bed sleeping off the morphine.

"Yeah, his doctor." Bobby held up a beer and handed it over when Dean nodded. "The kid's in a coma they can't explain. Fell into it right after they got him to the hospital. We're not gonna get anything out of him."

"Awesome." Dean looked out the window at the deepening night. The dark had come in early and brought a chill to the air.

"How's Sam?" Bobby asked and refused to look away in the face of the anger still lurking in Dean's eyes.

"He's fine. Just bruised." Dean blew out a breath and leaned against the wall, looking at him. "Bobby, I get it. I do. But you can't keep holdin' on to this." He raised a hand when Bobby scowled and opened his mouth. "You tell me right now; can I still trust you with Sam or not?"

"Dammit, son! How can you even…"

"You left him!" Dean cut over him angrily. "You didn't even find out if he was ok. You could'a called me and told me but you walked away." Dean fixed him with an angry glare. "How many names do you think are on the list of people I trust him with?"

Bobby looked away finally and groaned. "Two."

Dean nodded. "There _were_ two. Right now, the only name on that list is mine, Bobby, and that pisses me the hell off."

"He wasn't hurt, Dean. He was sittin' up…" Bobby started, attempting to find some defense for himself, but Dean cut him off again.

"He's beat to hell!" Dean snarled and took a deep breath because screaming at Bobby wouldn't solve anything.

"I have a few bruises and I'm just fine, thanks." Sam said, interrupting as he came out of the bedroom. The atmosphere was charged, and he could see the temper radiating from both men. "Bobby didn't do anything wrong, Dean. Stop blaming him." Sam managed a smile for Bobby's surprised face and Dean's angry face and then pointed at the Biggerson's bag on the table. "Did you guys eat my lunch too?"

Dean stared Bobby down for one more moment and then sighed. "No. Your sandwich is in the fridge." He watched Sam walk stiffly over and bend slowly to open the appliance. "See those two bottles right there next to it? Take 'em and don't argue 'cause you're not hunting tomorrow if you can't move better than this."

Sam straightened with the sandwich, considered arguing, and decided he didn't want to add to the strain in the room. "Fine." He grabbed the bottles and pulled a bottle of beer out of the pack on the table as he passed to the couch.

Bobby squirmed for just a moment with Sam defending him, feeling not very deserving just then, but as he opened his mouth to thank him…the vivid image of Sam's cold, unfeeling face with the knife raised above his head flooded back into his mind and Bobby shook himself. Sam was a big guy. He could take care of himself, and obviously Dean needed to stop pretending like his little brother was some damn china doll that needed protecting. The thoughts felt wrong even as they went through his mind, but he wasn't ready to listen just yet. He set his empty beer aside and stood. "I'm turnin' in for the night. We'll get an early start tomorrow."

Dean watched him leave and the stiff set of the man's shoulders and knew Bobby hadn't gotten his head out of his ass where Sam was concerned just yet. "Dammit." He looked back at his brother as Sam switched on the television. "You shouldn't be drinking with those pills, I bet."

Sam rolled his eyes and laughed. "And that's stopped _you_ when, exactly?" He swallowed the pain killers and the muscle relaxer with a healthy swallow of beer and started on his sandwich. "I'll be out cold in a half an hour. I don't think one beer's gonna kill me, Dean."

Dean scowled at him but had to grudgingly agree. He grabbed another beer for himself and sat at the table to look over the map again. "Hope you're up for a hike tomorrow, dude."

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Dean hitched his pack higher on his shoulders and looked over at his brother five or so feet away, relieved to see him moving relatively pain free. Dean smirked; he'd slipped a muscle relaxer and one of the painkillers into Sam's coffee before they'd left, knowing he'd refuse to take them otherwise. He looked across his other side at Bobby and got a shake of the other man's head; he hadn't spotted anything yet.

"Maybe we're not making enough noise," Sam observed softly and looked at Dean with a shrug. "Wanna play bait?"

Dean grinned. "I'm a better shot. You be bait."

"No way. I shoot straighter than you on a bad day, and you don't have bruised ribs." Sam smirked when Dean sputtered.

"Dude…"

"Boy's got a point." Bobby cut in and smiled at the look of surprise on Dean's face. "What? You're way more annoyin' than he is. Little buggers'll be hot to gank you after about five minutes."

"Nice. Real nice," Dean grumbled but moved ahead of them and starting stomping through the underbrush. "Hey, Bobby! You know, I still got some itching powder. You better start checkin' your shorts!"

Sam chuckled softly and slowed to give Dean more space but keep him in sight. It wasn't easy in the dense forest, and he did lose sight of Bobby on Dean's other side. That made him a little nervous, but he kept his position and his eyes on his brother who was now belting out the refrain of 'Back in Black' incredibly out of tune. Sam rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh. "Such an idiot." He muttered.

Bobby listened to Dean's singing, if you could call it that, and decided plugging his ears probably wasn't a good idea. He shook his head. It wouldn't take the pukwudgies long to find them at this rate with Dean caterwaulin' like a damn banshee. He scanned the trees and brush around him and sighed, still not seeing or hearing any sign of the pukwudgies.

Sam looked up as Dean broke off singing and started, apparently, holding a conversation with himself. He chuckled. Dean was really going all out to draw the creatures' attention. Sam looked down, stepping over a jumble of roots, looked back up and stared. "Dean?" His brother was gone. "Bobby! You see him?" Sam waited for a response and fear fell cold into his stomach when none came. "Oh, crap. Dean!" Sam ran ahead. "Dean, answer me!" He couldn't understand how, in the space of a second, he'd lost him or how Dean would move away without warning him…unless he couldn't. "Bobby! Dean!"

Sam put on an extra burst of speed when he heard Dean's voice raised in a muffled cry. "I'm coming! Where are you?" He broke through the line of trees and skidded to a stop in shock as the ground dropped away twenty feet ahead of him. He'd found the cliff. "Dean?" Dread began to rise up to choke him, fearing what he would hear, and it nearly took his legs out from under him when he heard Dean's voice echoing up from beyond the edge. "Oh, my God." Sam breathed and ran. He slid to his knees and then his stomach at the edge and looked out and down, finding Dean's now fear-filled green eyes looking up at him from below.

Dean swallowed past the lump of terror in his throat and looked up at his brother. "Hey," he gasped and tried for a smile, but the sensation of being pushed off the cliff was still fresh in his head. His stomach still churning with those few moments of falling before he'd managed to grab a desperate hold of an outcropping. The dizzying look a hundred feet down had reminded him of his own mortality in a way he hadn't felt that strongly in a long time. The stinky oil Sam had brushed on his eyelids had kept the pukwudgies from using their magic to trick him, but it was no defense against a shove when he was stupid enough to go to the edge and take a look over.

"Dean, hold on!" Sam lay out and stretched his arm down to his brother, but he was still more than five feet away.

Dean looked up at Sam's hand too far above him and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the cool stone.

"Climb, Dean!" Sam yelled fearfully. "Just a few feet! That's all!" He watched Dean with his head against the sheer cliff, hanging by his fingers, the wind whipping past his face in a gale, and refused to give in to the hopelessness in his heart. "Dean, dammit! Climb!"

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_To Be Continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Dean. Dean, you have to climb." Sam gave up yelling for a more reasonable tone, trying to get his brother's attention off the deadly drop beneath him and speak around the lump in his own throat that tried to steal his voice. "There's a handhold right there, on your right. Just look up, Dean. You can do this."

Dean nodded, his forehead brushing harsh against the cliff while he tried to get his breathing under control. The fact that his brother was above him talking to him like Dean was a scared kid in need of reassurance helped him find a measure of control…that was his job dammit, not Sam's.

"Dean. Please." Sam was reduced to pleading. He knew damn well Dean had one weakness; it's why flying was such a nightmare for him…heights. Oh, his big brother did a good job of masking it unless they were on a plane, but, like this, dangling from the side of a cliff? Sam was surprised Dean was even still breathing. "You can do this, Dean. Please. Just look up at me, ok?" Sam inched his chest forward over the rock another couple inches, skirting the line of safety to try and get his hand a little closer. "Dean?" Sam tossed a look back over his shoulder, hoping to see Bobby but there was still no sign of him.

Dean got his head up and watched Sam turn to look back down at him with eyes too big. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, summoning every ounce of Winchester control-in-the-face-of-fear that had been drilled into him from childhood by his father. "Ok. I'm, uh…I'm good. Holy crap." He forced the cramped fingers of his right hand to let go of the rock and started inching his hand up and to his right.

"That's it, little more to your right. There." Sam encouraged as Dean's hand closed around the jut of rock above him. "There's a narrow ledge up and to your left. Find a foothold."

"I know how to climb, dammit," Dean growled, but the usual heat wasn't behind it. Grousing at Sam did help him feel a little better and he stretched his left hand up, feeling around until his fingers curled over the inch-wide ledge while his mind screamed at him that it wasn't wide enough and his fingers would slip. He ignored it and focused on convincing his right foot to leave its hold and bend his knee, feeling around with the toe of his boot for something higher to rest it on. "Where's…where's Bobby?"

"I don't know." Sam wanted to lie and tell him Bobby was fine, but there was no way Dean wouldn't see the lie as the older man wasn't already there and talking to him. "I lost sight of him when I lost sight of you."

"Shit, Sammy! You gotta go find him!" Dean forgot his own fear for a moment, swamped in concern for Bobby. "I'll be fine! Go find him!"

"No way in hell, Dean." Sam said angrily and didn't move. There was no way he was walking away from Dean hanging off a damn cliff. "Sooner you get your ass up here, the sooner WE can go find him, so stop whining and MOVE!" His tone did what he hoped it would; Dean's face darkened with anger and the fear smoothed away from his face.

"Son of a…gonna kick your ass…when I get…back up there!" Dean searched for footholds in earnest and focused on the smirk on his little brother's face above him. He climbed another couple feet and tried reaching for Sam's hand. Dean groaned unhappily finding he was still inches short.

"You're so close, Dean. Keep going." Sam smiled, working to look unconcerned, but his heart was in his throat with every inch Dean gained and he shouted as Dean lost his footing. "NO!"

Dean swung from his hands for just a moment before his feet found purchase again and he plastered himself to the cliff wall in his best impersonation of Spiderman while he tried not to hyperventilate himself off the side. "Shit…shit…holy shit."

"Oh, my God." Sam gasped and went weak with relief. "Dean?"

Dean leaned his head back far enough to look up and made sure to keep his eyes on his brother's pale face rather than the too-wide blue sky above him. "Still here."

"Sam? Dean?"

Sam dropped his head with a gust of breath. "Oh, thank God. Hang on." He rolled enough to look back. "Bobby! Over here!" He yelled and kept yelling until Bobby broke through the trees, covered in brambles and looking supremely pissed off. "Get over here and hold my legs!"

"Where's Dean?" Bobby asked as he neared the cliff edge and had a sinking feeling he knew before Sam opened his mouth.

"Where do you think?" Sam turned back to his brother and reached down again. He felt Bobby take his legs and eased himself out and down a little further, stretching his arm down until his shoulder ached. "Just another few inches, Dean. Come on."

Bobby leaned out enough to see over the side and swallowed hard. "Balls," he breathed and leaned back, getting a firmer grip around Sam's legs. "Friggin' pukwudgie sons of bitches turned me around, caught me in a damn net…" He trailed off, realizing Sam had no interest in that moment in knowing where he'd been. "Can you reach him?"

Dean eased up another inch, being more careful where he put his foot this time. He looked up at Sam again, braced himself, and lunged his right hand upward. He saw the surprise and fear dance across his little brother's face and then grim determination as Sam wrapped his hand around Dean's forearm and held him firm.

"Shit." Sam groaned as all Dean's weight settled onto his arm, threatening to wrench his shoulder out of its socket. "C…climb!"

Bobby grunted and leaned back to keep Sam from sliding over the side as his weight suddenly doubled, and he knew he had his brother. "Hang on to him, Sam!"

Dean used Sam's arm for leverage to get higher on the cliff face until he could reach high enough to wrap his fingers around Sam's belt at his back. He used it and a foothold to push himself the rest of the way up, rolled over the lip of the cliff to the top and Sam let his arm go. "Holy…shit." Dean gasped.

Bobby pulled Sam's legs, easing him away from the edge as well, and then knelt beside Dean. "You alright, son?"

Dean nodded, not interested in moving just then. He waved an arm. "Sam. Check Sam."

Bobby looked over at the kid who had yet to move. "Sam?" He slid a hand under Sam's left arm and helped him roll to his back and then sit up. He scowled, seeing spots of blood coming up through his shirt and he was cradling his right arm.

"I'm good, Bobby." Sam assured him. "Can we please get the hell away from the cliff?" Dean had come damn close to pulling his shoulder from the socket climbing up him but he wouldn't trade it. It was worth the pain to have him gasping like a landed fish next to him while the adrenaline flooded his system with relief.

"Alright, get up you two." Bobby took the arm Dean held out and got him to his feet, somehow managing not to smirk at him when Dean came close to running from the edge, stopping only long enough to get hold of Sam and drag him up with him.

"Lost my rifle." Dean said ruefully and looked toward the cliff. "I, uh…don't want it back that bad."

"How'd you end up over the side?" Bobby followed them to the tree line and kept a wary eye on the forest.

"Pukkin' wedgies caught me looking over the edge and gave me a shove." Dean said and shrugged, trying not to look as embarrassed as he felt for being caught out that way.

Sam snorted a laugh at Dean's abuse of the pukwudgie name. "Lost your pack too."

Dean nodded and grabbed the strap of Sam's, easing it off his right shoulder. "Gimme." He knew Sam had to be hurting when he didn't argue and just let Dean take it. "Good thing we shoved the first-aid kit in yours." He looked over at Bobby while he knelt and opened the pack. "How come you look like you got dragged wet through the woods?"

Bobby snarled as he brushed leaves and twigs from his jacket and arms. "Little bastards started shootin' those damn quills at me and herded me into a net." He rolled his eyes. "They were just screwin' with me."

"Lucky you." Dean growled and stood. "Shirt up." He told his brother.

"What? No. Dude, I'm fine." Sam shook his head and backed up a step.

"You're bleeding, idiot." Dean grabbed the arm Sam wasn't cradling and yanked him back.

"I'll just make sure nothin' sneaks up on us while you're fixin' booboos." Bobby rolled his eyes affectionately while Dean argued for and won access to his brother's chest.

"It's just scrapes from the rock." Sam groaned and studiously didn't look at his own chest. He didn't want to see the new scraps on top of the bruises he already sported.

Dean nodded and went at them with the alcohol-soaked gauze he'd taken from the kit. "Hold still already." They weren't deep, just shallow enough to bleed and no doubt burn like hell from the way Sam was twitching as he cleaned them. "How's your shoulder?"

"Good." Sam said quickly and raised a brow at Dean's look of disbelief. "Sore, but good. Stop mothering me, Dean."

"Stop bitching." Dean scowled and then smirked when he leaned back and Sam tugged his shirts back down.

"Can we go shoot pukwudgies now?" Sam shook out his right arm and drew his gun.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Dean slipped Sam's back onto his shoulders and drew his own gun from his back, grateful it hadn't followed his rifle and pack over the cliff. "Bobby? Any sign?"

"They're out there." Bobby said darkly. "We're not splittin' up this time."

Dean gave the cliff a last look, shuddered and motioned Sam in after Bobby. "No arguments from me. Don't suppose you saw how many of them there are?"

"No damn clue." Bobby shook his head. "They stayed in the brush and the trees. Just heard the little bastards laughin' at me."

"Well, you do look pretty damn comical right now." Dean smirked and reached out, plucking a leafy branch from the back of Bobby's collar.

"Shuddup." Bobby groused and looked around the trees.

Sam stopped and looked to his right. "I heard something." He'd heard something rustle in the brush as they walked and stared at it, waiting. "There's definitely something over there."

Dean looked at the bushes and then turned, looking in the other direction because the hairs on the back of his neck told him it was a distraction, and he wasn't going to be caught out again so soon. Sure enough, he saw a branch twitch and leaves sway with no breeze and his eyes widened. "Shit! Bobby get down!" Dean spun and tackled Sam to the forest floor as there was a series of sharp hisses behind them. He looked up and saw large, needle-like things shoot over their heads and embed in the trees around them.

"I think we pissed them off somehow." Sam rolled to his back and trained his gun behind them. "Might have been your singing." He fired three rounds into the bushes, Bobby's gun joining his a second later. There were high-pitched, angry screams, and the forest went quiet once more.

"You good, Bobby?" Dean called and warily got back to his feet.

"Think we hit one." Bobby scrambled to his feet and headed for the screen of bushes with Dean beside him.

"Got your back." Sam told them softly and watched the trees behind them.

Dean eased forward, pushing branches out of his way and smiled grimly at the bloodied body on the ground behind the bush. "One down. Man, that is one ugly little midget." The dead pukwudgie was a shade of grey like smooth river stone. Its ears and fingers were too large for its body that couldn't measure more than three and a half, maybe four feet tall and even its nose was oversized.

Bobby knelt and took the creature's arm, rolling it to its back. "There. You see that?" He pointed to rows of small, raised spots on its back. "That's where the quills come from." He pressed next to one and the point of a quill emerged; the tip glistening with a clear fluid.

"That what drove that poor guy in the ER berserk?" Dean asked, nodded to the fluid.

"Yeah, probably; but there'd have been a spell with it too." Bobby carefully tugged the quill free of the body with a grimace and held it up. "This stuff'll just knock you on your ass for a minute. Pukwudgies'd use some kinda magic like an additive. Rufus got nailed by a few these." Bobby smirked and chuckled. "Spent half a day chasin' invisible fairies around our motel room."

"Oh, I'm gonna remember that one next time we see him." Dean laughed and stood, turning to his brother. "Anything?"

Sam shook his head. "You know, these things are supposed to have been created by Maushop. He was sort of a…creation god who tried to make them behave and couldn't."

"Oh, that builds my confidence." Dean rolled his eyes. "The asshat that made 'em couldn't keep 'em in line. Awesome. So why doesn't this…IHop dude come back and kick 'em in the ass this time?"

Sam snorted. "Maushop. The pukwudgies killed him because they were jealous of his love for humans."

"See? I knew I hated these things," Dean groaned.

"We gotta find the nest." Bobby tossed the quill to the ground. "They went this way, more or less."

"Good a direction as any." Dean shrugged and followed Bobby deeper into the forest.

"Barry seemed to think it was somewhere near here," Bobby observed but without any real confidence in his voice.

Sam nodded. "I think he's right. The highest concentration of victims is in this area, according to his map. That means they're likely defending their territory from humans."

"Geek." Dean said and smirked at his brother.

"Next job, you can do all the research." Sam chuckled, ducked under a tree branch, and that saved him as several long quills flew just over his head. "Crap! They're back!"

"Stay down!" Dean grabbed Bobby's arm and jerked him back and down to his knees in the cover of some overgrown rose bushes. "You see them?" He jerked his head back when Sam's gun went off and saw him aiming up into the tree above them. Sam grinned as a dead pukwudgie tumbled from the heavy leaf cover and dropped to the dirt with a thud. "Nice one, Sammy."

Bobby aimed his rifle through the cover of a bush and fired, taking out another creature. He frowned as a cry went up from the pukwudgies around them they couldn't see. "That…sounds like a hell of a lot more of these little bastards than I was hopin' for."

"Told ya' you should have brought a machine gun," Dean said with a smirk. He flinched as something moved over his left hand and tugged it away. "Ow." He looked down and saw a speck of blood well on the back of his hand from one of the rose bush's thorns. "Ok, maybe not the best hiding place." He said ruefully. Dean scowled when he felt his sleeve become snagged and pulled it but the thorns held it in place.

"Shit." Bobby cursed and jerked away as sharp thorns bit into his arm. "What the…"

"Crap! Are they…" Sam tried to jerk back from the rose bushes and felt something slither up his back. "…they're moving!"

"Oh, hell no!" Dean wrenched away from the bushes only to find his clothes becoming hopelessly entangled as the vines moved. He could hear laughter with a vicious overtone from the trees all around them and knew this was pukwudgie magic at work. He managed to pull his knife and started slicing at the roots and tendrils holding him and saw Sam and Bobby trying to do the same even as the bushes around them seemed to convulse and he found himself wrapped up in the space of a moment, yanked back against a tree trunk and immobile. "Sam?"

Sam grunted in pain as his back was dragged to a tree. He saw the same had happened to his brother and Bobby and both men were wrapped in rose covered roots and vines. "You know…ow…I normally like…shit, nature. Dammit!"

"Don't think nature likes us much right now!" Dean snarled in pain as the thorn covered tendrils tightened around him and he felt the bite of them in his arms, legs and chest. He could tell from their shouts and gasps that Sam and Bobby were feeling the same. A warm feeling started to burn through his limbs as his vision started to waver. "Aw…come on. We bein' drugged?"

"Some kind of…of poison?" Sam gasped as the rope of thorns around his throat tightened even more painfully and he felt blood flowing in trickles down his skin. He wondered vaguely if they could slice into him deep enough to nick his jugular and how long it would take to bleed out through such a small hole. Of course, by that time, he probably would have been choked into unconsciousness, so he supposed it didn't really matter. His eyes widened in horror when he saw a fire burst into life not twenty yards behind his brother and Bobby and he remembered - pukwudgies had the ability to create fire at will. "Oh…oh, god. Dean?"

Dean managed a nod as he saw a fire flare up beyond Sam and heard one crackling behind him. "Not good!" He strained to turn his hand and cut through the roots binding him with the knife he'd managed to keep hold of.

Bobby thrashed, fighting the artificial lassitude that tried to spread through him from the thorns as they cut into him. He could hear Dean to his right trying to free himself and see Sam across from him with blood flowing down his throat from beneath the roses while he tried to get his head back far enough to let him breathe and flames framed him from behind. "We are so humped."

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_To Be Continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Dean pulled against the vines as he felt the first licks of heat from the fire behind him. "Come on!" His head was swimming as the rose's venom, or whatever it was, moved through him. All he could see was Sam across from him with his head pulled back and a flowery garrote around his throat as he tried and failed to keep breathing. "No!" Dean shouted and, with a burst of adrenalin-fueled strength born of fear for his little brother, wrenched his left hand with the knife. The blade sliced through enough of the tendrils to let his arm loose, and he wasted no time cutting through every rose covered vine he could reach.

"Dean!" Bobby called as the heat from the fire behind them became painful on his hands.

"I know!" Dean growled. He fell forward from the tree to his knees and batted writhing tendrils of roses away from him as the fire overtook them. He looked over to Bobby.

"Go! Get Sam!" Bobby yelled because the younger Winchester was out of time or damn near.

Dean didn't need to be told again. He rushed to his feet and across to his brother. "Sam? Shit!" He cursed as the flames behind Sam reached the roses and fire started to creep along the vines holding him. He wrapped his fingers in the roses around Sam's throat and pulled, hacking at them with his blade until Sam's head dropped forward. Sam sucked in a ragged breath, and Dean came close to crying with relief. He swayed with the poison still working through him and forced his eyes to focus, cutting more of the now writhing tendrils free from his brother, praying that the blood still oozing from multiple points on his throat was all from shallow wounds that would clot soon and that none of the thorns had nicked an artery.

Sam coughed and gasped, amazed to still be alive and jerked in the vines holding him as he felt heat on his arms and legs. "Dean?"

"Workin' on it!" Dean said when he heard his brother's frightened voice over the crackling of the fire. "Bobby?"

"Almost! Damn…stupid…" Bobby snarled in frustration and finally dragged his right arm loose. "Shit!" He waved his arm, trying to put out the fire that had taken hold on his sleeve.

Dean caught Sam against him when he slumped away from the tree and slapped out the flames on his back before looking around nervously. He looked back and nodded, relieved, to find Bobby had nearly freed himself. "Anyone got a fire extinguisher?"

"River." Sam took his own weight and stood. He pointed through a break in the growing wall of flames. "That way." He glanced at the inferno. "We need to hurry."

Dean pulled Sam over to Bobby and tugged on the older man's arm. "Come on!"

"This way." Sam took the lead in spite of how badly he wanted to pass out and wiped irritably at the blood on his neck. He took a breath and jumped through the gap in the flames, rolling onto the ground and heard Dean land beside him a moment later and then Bobby with a curse.

"Up." Dean grunted as he climbed to his feet and pulled Sam up too. He took hold of his brother's arm and dragged him through the trees. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. "Uh, Bobby? Is it just me…or is the fire…following us?"

Bobby looked back and watched as the flames turned against the wind to come after them. "Balls! Move your asses!"

"How far?" Dean asked as he dragged Sam along with him, keeping him from stumbling to the ground.

"Hundred…hundred yards maybe." Sam blinked, trying to lose the wavering in his vision and the strange, numb feeling creeping out from his fingers and toes thanks to the roses and their poison.

Dean staggered dizzily and righted them both. "Damn. I feel high."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. There…over there. I can hear the water."

Bobby stumbled to his knees with the effects of the poison and gasped. He crawled back to his feet with the fire right behind him and followed his boys up a small hill. He grinned with relief at the top as the river came in sight. "Go! Go! Go!" He shouted with the roar of the flame chasing them, trees cracking under the heat and flaming embers of leaves beginning to rain down on them.

Dean lost his footing, stumbling into a roll down the hill that took Sam with him and they both splashed down into the river in a tangle. Sam came up sputtering and gasping just in time to watch Bobby do the same. "Crap!" Sam lurched to his left in the water and barely avoided Bobby landing on top of him. He looked up the small hill into the heart of a raging forest fire. "This…complicates things!"

"Ya' think?" Dean spat water and swam out into the current as the fire reached the bank of the river.

Bobby splashed to the surface with Sam's hand pulling on his shoulder. "Anyone got any bright ideas?" He shook his head with his vision still swimming, and a quick glance at both boys showed them trying to do the same.

"Any longer with those roses and we'd have been trippin' balls," Dean groaned, wiping water from his face while the burning trees seemed to sway and bend in his vision. "Ok, tripping more balls."

They gasped as one in shock as the roaring forest fire suddenly went out with an audible thump to the air. The flames vanished and left the sound of cooling, crackling wood in its wake while cinders continued to fall through the air like fireflies in the smoky gloom.

"Wow," Sam breathed in awe. He'd known pukwudgies could start fires at will, but there had been nothing in the lore about them being able to actually control it.

"Let's get out before something drowns us." Dean reached over and pulled his brother's arm, dragging him through the water toward the shore.

Sam staggered out of the river onto the burned shore, exhausted as they all were and with the beginning of a headache as the rose's poison wore off, not to mention the myriad scratches from the thorns over his body and around his throat. "Think we should…get out…regroup." His voice was going hoarse as his throat swelled uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Think we'll call today a draw," Dean said wearily and pulled Sam's arm over his shoulders before his brother could go to his knees.

"Draw, my ass." Bobby grumbled and came behind them, keeping an eye out for pukwudgies. "We got schooled, but good. Didn't think there'd be so many of the little bastards."

They trudged through the burnt forest, senses on high alert for the creatures' return, but they thankfully stayed absent…until they reached the edge of the forest. A cry went up behind the three men as they staggered out into the open.

"Aw, what the hell now?" Bobby turned to look, and his eyes went wide as a hail of quills came sailing out from the trees. "Look out!"

"Shit!" Dean shouted. He shoved Sam down to the ground and landed atop him, shielding his brother with his body and grunted in pain as several of the quills hit their marks in his back and legs. He heard Bobby curse and knew he'd been hit as well.

"Dean…get off," Sam groaned and shoved, trying to move him, and finally Dean slid off to his side.

"Ow…shit, knock it off." Dean grimaced and got on his knees. He twisted to look at the back of his legs and reached back, taking hold of and yanking out a quill with a shout.

Sam pushed up so he was sitting and leaned around his brother to get a look. He snorted. "Dude, you're a pincushion." He tried to laugh, but it came out a wheezing cough.

"Take it easy, Weezy," Dean smirked but kept a concerned eye on him.

Bobby pulled two more quills from his back and got to his feet. "Come on before they fire another damn volley." He groaned as the sound of laughter came from the forest and he snarled angrily.

"Need to…see the map." Sam said between gasping breaths. He coughed and regained his feet, then plucked another quill from Dean's back.

"Hey!" Dean rolled his eyes and slapped Sam's hand away.

"Can't drive…with those…in your back." Sam told him and shrugged. "Stop complaining."

"He's right." Bobby smirked and reached over, tugging another of the half-dozen quills still in Dean's back. He tossed it while the elder Winchester snarled at him. "Just bein' helpful. Stop whinin' ya' big girl." He laughed and pulled out two more while Sam grabbed the rest.

Dean shouted and grabbed his wheezing, chuckling brother, shoving him toward the cars. "I hate you both. So damn much."

Bobby smothered a laugh and grinned, turning to keep an eye on the tree line as they made their exit.

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_ **

Dean came out of the bathroom and glanced at his brother. "Wonder why me and Bobby haven't gone Hulk like that guy in the hospital?"

"I think they were just…adding insult to injury at that point," Sam said in a hoarse voice with a smirk for his brother's discomfort as Dean eased a shirt on over his sore back.

"I'm gonna injure _you_ if you don't stop laughing." Dean snarled and rolled his eyes. "You find anything useful yet?" He went to Sam and tipped his brother's head up, pulling away the bag of ice Sam had been holding to his throat to get a look at it. He grimaced for the vivid bruising and deep scratches from the thorns that ringed Sam's neck. "How's your breathing?"

"Painful." Sam rolled his eyes and fought the need to cough again as he put the ice back to his neck. "I'm fine. And yeah, I think I have something." He looked over at a knock on the door. "Bobby went to get food."

Dean nodded and drew his pistol anyway before opening the door. He wasn't going to blindly trust anything with the pukwudgies raising hell. He smiled and shrugged for Bobby as he pushed through the door with a bag in his arms and put up his gun. "Sam thinks he found something and please tell me you got pie. I need pie."

Bobby snorted and set the bag on the coffee table. "Tough, princess. No pie."

"I think I know where the nest is." Sam pushed the laptop away and looked over at Dean. "But, uh…you're not gonna like it. I'm pretty sure it's in the cliff."

"Wait. Wait. What do you mean 'in the cliff'?" Dean raised his hands. "Near it? Under it?"

"Down the side." Sam said ruefully and gave in to the nagging cough. He hunched over and nodded to try and tell Dean he was fine when he felt his hand on his shoulder.

"Here." Bobby handed Dean a Styrofoam cup. "Hot tea. Figured it'd be better on his throat."

Sam got the coughing under control, wheezed in a breath, and took the cup Dean held down in front of his face. He got a sip of the still-hot brew in between gasps and it instantly soothed his throat. "Thanks," he said, though his voice didn't get far above a whisper.

Dean studied him for a moment, making sure Sam wasn't bullshitting as usual and then stepped back. "Can we get back to the part where you tell me I do NOT have to go back down that damn cliff."

"Sorry." Sam shrugged and smiled sadly. "I should have seen this before." He pointed to the map and the marks he'd added to their area. "All the people hurt or killed all have one thing in common - proximity to that cliff, and it's all through the lore." He cleared his throat and took another sip of the tea and shook his head. "I missed it. I'm sorry."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Guess your ass is fired then."

"How far down the cliff?" Bobby asked before they went off sniping at each other, as amusing as it was, and for a moment, the familiarity of it almost made him forget his reticence about Sam.

"Thirty feet or so." Sam tapped the screen of the laptop and a more detailed map he'd found online of the cliff. "We'll have to rappel down."

Dean groaned and dropped into a chair. "Can we pretend we didn't take this job?" He really did not want to have another long look down the side of that cliff.

"Bobby and I can go down. You can man the ropes." Sam gave his brother an out. Dean had been traumatized enough for one day when it came to heights.

"Screw that!" Dean said loudly as Bobby opened his mouth to agree. He stood and loomed over his brother. "There's a whole damn cave system down there isn't there?" Sam nodded. "You already know we all need to go in to search it. I can handle the damn climb." Having Sam try to protect him stung his pride and that drove back the fear with much more comfortable anger.

"Fine." Sam raised his hands in defeat. "But no way are we rappelling down a cliff at night."

"And I want a better way to nail those little bastards," Bobby growled. His backside still hurt from the quill he'd had to yank out of it.

"Nail them." Dean muttered. A slow smile spread across his face and he grabbed his jacket. "I'll be back."

"Where you think you're goin'?" Bobby asked as Dean opened the door.

"Shopping." Dean said with a grin and then fixed Bobby with a stern look. "Make sure he doesn't choke or anything."

"Dude! I'm not five!" Sam protested as the door closed and groaned, coughing again and picked his tea back up to soothe his throat. "Jerk." He looked over when Bobby shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "You don't have to sit with me, Bobby. I'm fine and I can take care of myself. You should get some sleep too." Sam closed the laptop and stood. "I mean it. I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed. Go on."

Bobby rose and nodded. "Yeah, ok." He went to the door and looked back. "You sure?" He rolled his eyes when Sam raised a clearly amused brow at him. "Yeah, you're sure. Night." He went out and saw the Impala's tail lights vanishing around the lodge, hoping Dean wouldn't come after him for not staying. He wasn't comfortable alone with Sam any more than Sam seemed to be ok with being alone with him now, and that didn't help his nerves any. There wasn't any damn reason in his mind that Sam should be nervous around him unless he was still having homicidal thoughts and didn't want anyone to know about it. "Dammit." Even as he thought it, he knew on some level that he was so far off base as to be out of the freakin' ballfield, but that didn't stop the thought from replaying over and over again in his brain.

Sam shook his head wearily once Bobby left and sat on the end of his bed to kick his boots off. "I'm sorry, Bobby," he whispered to the empty room and hated himself a little more with every flinch in the older man's eyes. It was a visceral reminder of the times he'd been possessed by Meg…and by Lucifer…hurting and…killing the people he loved…killing Bobby. His breath hitched in his throat with emotion, and he shook his head, standing and going to the bathroom as he swallowed it back painfully. The man had more than enough reason to never trust him again, Sam decided, and closed himself in the bathroom.

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_ **

Dean opened the door to their cabin and scowled, noting Bobby's absence. He shook his head. He knew Sam didn't need to be baby-sat, but it was the principle of the thing after Bobby had left him in the emergency room. Dean had been hoping the guilt would remind the older Hunter that he used to give a damn. Dean silently crossed Bobby's name off the list in his head of people he trusted to keep his brother safe, and it hurt. And he hoped it wouldn't be permanent, but the man left him no choice. "Sam?" As usual now, his nerves sang with tension when he didn't know where his brother was and it was too quiet. Dean wasn't sure he'd ever get over seeing Sam have a seizure and knowing that it was pouring memories of hell into his head each time.

"Yeah." Sam came out of the bathroom, dressed and drying his hair and raised a brow at his brother and the bags he held. "Hardware store?"

Dean grinned, letting relief ease his nerves and set the bags on the table, pushing the laptop aside. "I got a plan."

"Why do I think I should be worried?" Sam asked and chuckled as Dean started pulling items out of the bags, setting them out. He raised a brow at several empty lengths of PVC pipe, boxes of carpenter's nails that were clearly iron, and began to laugh as Dean finished by setting out various household cleaning chemicals. "You're going to make pukwudgie pipe bombs. Holy crap."

"Shrapnel bombs, well…more like grenades I guess." Dean grinned, shaking one of the boxes of nails like a maraca and laughed while he sat. "Set these bad boys off and we can take out dozens of the little bastards at once. Just…don't be around when it goes off unless you wanna be a pincushion."

"I'll remember that." Sam sat in the other chair and grabbed a length of pipe. "Where do you wanna start?"

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_ **

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Bobby woke with a start, looking blearily around the darkened cottage and tried to figure out what had snapped him awake. Adrenaline was flooding his system with the message that he was in danger and he sat up in confusion. "What the hell?" He coughed as the smell of smoke suddenly filled his nose and his eyes began to water. "Oh, balls!" Bobby rolled off the bed to the floor with a thump. He put a hand back up and pulled his gun from under his pillow and then crawled out into the living area. Smoke was beginning to flow up from the door to the cabin and he distinctly heard the same laughter he'd heard in the forest earlier in the day. He crawled to the table and stood on his knees long enough to find his phone, worried at how quickly smoke was filling the interior of the cabin, though the fire seemed to be remaining on the outside for the moment. He hastily dialed Dean's number and tried to think of another way out.

Dean woke with Sam's hand on his shoulder shaking him. "What?" He looked up and his eyes went wide as smoke covered the ceiling of the room and drifted down to hang only a few feet over the bed, gradually dropping lower.

"I think we're on fire," Sam told him and covered his mouth as he coughed. He'd woken with a bad feeling, stood, and found the smoke the hard way.

"Shit!" Dean rolled to the floor and his knees and grabbed his phone off the table when it rang. "Bobby! We're on fire!"

"Yeah, join the damn club!" Bobby's voice shouted out of the speaker. "Get the hell outta there!"

Dean flipped the phone closed and made a grab for his brother as he moved. "Door's probably blocked."

"Not going for the door!" Sam hurried into the living area and had to stand to find the bag of homemade explosives they'd left on the table. He coughed while his eyes watered, and he dragged the bag to the floor, dropping with it. "Empty…empty the fridge!"

"Shit!" Dean cursed and yanked open the door of the little refrigerator. He pulled the contents and the shelves out in a pile and tried not to think how screwed they'd be if the heat set off his pipe bombs. He narrowed his eyes as Sam continued to cough and pulled the bag away from him, shoving it inside. He shoved the door closed and looked up as the ceiling burst into flames. Dean looked over and sure enough, flames rose up the door to the cabin and licked along the curtains at the window. The fire flowing across the ceiling above him did things to Dean's nerves, and he looked over to see Sam staring up with a haunted expression; it was far too close to past events for them.

Sam tore his eyes away from the roiling flames above them and fought to get air past his abused throat. He looked over at the window and then to his brother who gave a brief nod of agreement to Sam's unspoken thought. It was their only chance to get out. They'd have to jump through and hope the creatures weren't waiting for them outside.

"Sam, come on." Dean wrapped an arm over his brother's heaving shoulders. He jumped at the sound of gunfire from outside followed by the irate screams of pukwudgies. "Bobby?"

Sam wiped a hand over his watering eyes in surprise as the flames all around them suddenly went out as they had in the forest with a thump to the air. There were a few more shots fired and then the door of the cabin burst open. "Barry?"

Barry shouldered his rifle and waved a hand to try and clear some of the smoke that still hung in a haze in the room. "Did I mention this ain't the first time those little bastards have set one of my cabins on fire?"

"No. You forgot that part." Dean growled and pulled Sam back so he was sitting while he coughed. "Breathe, dude. Damn."

"Working…on it." Sam gasped between coughs.

"Dean? Sam?" Bobby ran into the room with a gun held steady and heaved a relieved breath. "You boys alright?"

"More or less." Dean nodded.

"Found three of 'em outside." Barry flicked on the light and groaned at the burnt timbers in the ceiling. "Think you're all gonna stay in the lodge."

"Yeah." Bobby nodded. He went over and took one of Sam's arms while Dean grabbed the other and got him to his feet. He frowned as Sam hunched over and kept coughing. "That don't sound good."

"He's fine," Dean said and made himself believe it because he wouldn't allow anything else.

"Drink." Sam managed between coughs. His already irritated throat was so dry he could barely speak thanks to the smoke and the pain was hitting a new level.

Bobby looked over at the refrigerator and his brows rose, seeing its contents scattered on the floor. He bent and grabbed a bottle of water. "Why'd you empty the fridge? Planning on climbing in or something?"

"Trying not to get blown up." Dean took the bottle, opened it and gave it to Sam. "Here."

Sam nodded and sucked gratefully at the water, letting it soothe his throat. He took his weight from Dean and stood on his own, however unsteadily. "I'm good," he said hoarsely.

"I think we just got kamikaze'd." Bobby observed ruefully. "The whole nest could have come out here after us, but they only sent three."

"We killed some…some of them." Sam cleared his throat. "I think we made them mad."

"No shit, Sherlock." Dean rolled his eyes and pushed Sam toward a chair. "Sit while I pack us up."

"I'll keep an eye outside." Barry slapped Bobby's shoulder. "Make sure you don't get caught with your pants down…again."

"Jackass." Bobby grumbled but smiled as the man left. "I'll go pack up. Meet you outside in five."

"Yeah." Dean went around the room shoving their belongings into their bags, sparing a look for Sam when his brother slid to his knees and opened the refrigerator. "Thought I told you to sit."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sitting…on the floor." He pulled the bag with Dean's homemade pipe bombs out and got shakily to his feet. "And now I'm…walking. Stop mothering me."

"Shuddup," Dean snarled and went into the bathroom. "Need a damn keeper."

"What?"

"Nothin'." Dean sighed and hastily gathered up the few things they'd left in the bathroom and the first-aid kit. "This job just keeps getting better and better."

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_ **

Sam rolled his head to try and relieve the tension in his neck as they passed through the forest again toward the cliff. He adjusted the straps of his pack and saw Dean doing the same ahead of him. Bobby walked behind him and Sam could hear the occasional muttered curse. They were all running on nerves, worried the pukwudgies would show up and accost them before they reached the cliff, but, so far, their luck was holding. Sam smirked. He could tell by the stiff set of his brother's shoulders that not being attacked was making him even more nervous.

"How much farther?" Dean turned and asked.

"We're almost there, "Sam told him, taking a glance at the compass in his hand.

"Good. All this quiet's makin' my teeth itch." Bobby shook his head. "Can't believe we caught 'em all sleeping."

"Well, it is damn early." Sam shrugged. They had left before dawn, and the sun had only broken the horizon a half hour before.

Dean groaned as he broke through the screen of trees and saw the cliff. He really wanted to turn back around, go back to the lodge, and cuddle the damn coffee machine. "I hate this job," he muttered. Dean pulled his pack around and dropped it. He knelt, flipping it open and pulled out a coil of rope.

Sam did the same beside him as he came out into the early morning light. "The wind's pretty calm. That'll make getting down a lot easier."

"Oh, I feel so much better now." Dean rolled his eyes as he tied one end of his line around the base of a tree. He walked to the edge and tossed the rest of the line over the side and purposefully didn't look down. He jumped when Sam dropped a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Dean." Sam smiled, trying to reassure him and handed his brother his harness. "Toss in a few of your grenades, clear out the nest, and we'll be back in time for lunch."

Dean groaned theatrically and threw his arms up in the air. "Why would you say that? Seriously, dude! You know how our luck goes!"

"Oh, stop whinin' princess." Bobby chuckled and tossed his own line over the side. "You want me to carry you down?"

"I don't have to take this abuse, you know?" Dean snarled as he buckled himself into his harness and snapped his line into place.

"Yeah, you do," Sam said cheerfully. He brushed a hand over the bandage around his throat, tugging on it impatiently and clipped his harness into place.

Dean considered picking a fight with his brother to delay going over the side, but Sam was already at the edge. He swallowed hard and watched his little brother plant his feet and lean out precariously but for the rope. "Show off." Sam grinned and then dropped from sight. "Shit!" Dean lurched to the edge and looked over into his brother's amused face ten feet down. "NOT funny, Sammy!"

Sam chuckled and walked slowly down the cliff face. "I thought it was pretty damn amusing." He knew if he started down, Dean would feel honor-bound to follow and swallow back his own fear to keep an eye on him.

Dean snarled again and rolled his eyes up to the sky and then back down. "Son of a bitch."

Bobby patted a hand on his shoulder as Dean turned his back to the drop off. "Just jump. Like rippin' off a Band-Aid, son."

"A Band-Aid won't leave me a stain on the ground somewhere," Dean groaned, took a deep breath, and went over the side. "Holy crap."

"Keep your eyes on the wall," Bobby coached and kept pace with Dean as they walked slowly down the side. He craned his head to see below and saw Sam rappelling in controlled jumps, easily outpacing them. "Where the hell'd he learn to climb like that?"

Dean snorted, amused in spite of his nerves. "Ten bucks says if you ask him, he says college." The humor quickly fled as the fear swelled back up. Hanging out over a hundred feet of empty air made him want to throw up, though at least this time, the wind wasn't screaming past him.

Sam slowed his descent before Dean felt the need to yell at him and looked below. He could just make out the dark opening of the cave directly beneath him. "It's here!" He called up as softly as he could and still be heard. Sam dropped a few more feet and then reached the top of the opening. He slid down the rope slowly, trying not to go swinging wildly in front of the cave as he descended.

Dean managed, barely, not to squeal like a girl when his feet ran out of rock and he lowered over the opening of the cave. He slapped a hand out to the rock to stop his spin before sliding lower and ignoring the chuckle he could hear from Bobby beside him. "Shuddup."

Bobby snorted and looked down to watch Sam flick on a flashlight and then land at the base of the cave entrance. It was roughly twenty feet high and as many wide. "See anything?"

Sam wobbled a bit on the edge of the cave entrance, swinging his arms until he regained his balance and shined his flashlight inside as he took a cautious step away from the edge. He used his free hand to unclip himself from his line and draw his gun instead. It was inky black in the cavern, and he could hear his footsteps echoing further back. He waved his light over the walls and up to the roof. "Crap! Look out!" Sam shouted in warning as a cloud of bats was disturbed by his light and dropped from the ceiling. He dropped to the floor and covered his head as they swarmed around him and then away.

Dean heard Sam's shout and looked out into the cave just in time for the first wave of the flying rodents to fly out at him. "Shit!" He yelled in surprise and fear as their passage spun him around and made him sick to his stomach. He loosened his grip on his line and slid down far too fast for his liking and heard Bobby yelling at him to get a grip on it again. Dean did as his foot slapped into the base of the cave entrance and opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them, when a hand slapped into his arm and he was pulled into the cave by a clearly terrified little brother.

"Dean? Jesus!" Sam went to his knees with his brother and held on to him a moment longer than he actually had to. Bobby's shout had warned him, and he'd looked up in time to watch Dean plummet along with his heart. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Dean shook his brother's arm off and got to his feet as Bobby reached the entrance. "Didn't need you goin' all Tarzan on me."

Sam stared and then rolled his eyes at Dean's customary inability to admit he was having a problem. "Right. Next time I'll just let you splat."

Bobby unhooked himself from his line and shook his head. "Boys are takin' years off my life." He muttered, relieved beyond belief to have Dean snarling at his brother instead of splattered over the canyon below.

Sam let Dean untangle himself from his line and picked his discarded flashlight and gun back up. "The nest must be further back but they're definitely using this place." He shone his light down on the floor so Dean and Bobby could easily make out the multitude of small footprints going back and forth over the dirt-covered floor.

Dean pulled his pack around and pulled a couple of his pipe bombs out. "Bobby, here. Remember, they're shrapnel bombs." He smirked. "Don't get ventilated."

Sam came back and took a couple of the bombs from his brother, sliding them into his pockets and turned back to the rear of the cave entrance and the two even darker maws of tunnel waiting on them. "Left or right?"

"I got left." Bobby shrugged and headed toward the corner. "You boys take the right and watch each other's backs for cryin' out loud."

Dean rolled his eyes for how deftly Bobby thought he'd avoided ending up alone with Sam. "Come on, sasquatch."

"Yeah." Sam watched Bobby's light trail away into the tunnel and sighed as he followed his brother.

Dean shone his light into the tunnel, scowling as it curved away and turned again and again as they walked. "How far back do these go?"

"The old survey said all the tunnels meet up in the same cavern at some point." Sam shrugged. "They're not that extensive really."

Dean groaned and had to hunch over as the ceiling lowered to chest height. "Maybe they're not even in here. It's not like we've been stealthy getting in."

Sam shook his head. "No, they're here somewhere." He was sure of it. He could almost feel their presence at the back of his mind somewhere ahead of them. Sam stayed as close to Dean's back as he could, both of them close to walking on their knees in the low tunnel.

Dean froze at a bend in the tunnel. "You hear that?" he asked softly and hid his light in his leg for a moment, plunging them into darkness as Sam covered his as well. He listened, ears ringing in the silence for a moment until he heard it again, the sound of feet running over stone and a patter of soft voices.

Sam tapped his brother's shoulder and took his light out again. "We're close."

Dean grinned and took out another of the homemade pipe bombs. He made sure his Zippo was in easy reach and started forward. "We'll make sure Bobby's not in the line of fire then toss one of these bad boys in."

Sam shook his head, amused at Dean and his love of making things blow up. "You're such a pyro."

"I'm a happy pyro." Dean smirked and eased around the bend in the tunnel. "Shit. Lights!" He turned off his flashlight while Sam did the same and the darkness ahead of them was lightening by the flickering dance of fire. "Guess even wedgies need to see what they're doing." He whispered. They moved silently forward, using the faint light from ahead as a guide and both stopped to stare. The tunnel opened into a large cavern with a small lake at its center, and around it were dozens upon dozens of pukwudgies, some sleeping, some walking, and others huddled around what could only be the mangled remains of victims no one had yet missed.

"Bobby?" Sam said it so soft it was barely audible but Dean heard him.

Dean shrugged. He nodded to another tunnel entrance thirty feet away and partially hidden by a small group of boulders, but there was no sign of the older Hunter. He pulled out his Zippo, opened it, and muffled the click in his hand. "Bombs away," he said softly, spun the wheel, and lit the end of the fuse on his pipe bomb. "'bout eight seconds." Dean told his brother and leaned up slightly to throw it out into the cavern.

Sam took one of his own, lit the fuse, and threw it out toward a large group of the creatures. He moved to let Dean back around him while counting in his head. He had almost turned away when movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Sam looked back around and gasped in a horrified breath as Bobby eased into view around the screen of boulders from the other tunnel and prepared to light his own pipe bomb. Sam had reached 'three' in his head and there was no time. He sprinted out of the tunnel into the open. A cry of surprise went up from the pukwudgies as he ran and tried to reach Bobby in time.

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_To Be Continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"BOBBY!" Sam shouted desperately as the count in his head reached 'one'.

Bobby looked up, the lighter in his hand falling away from the fuse of his bomb to see Sam barreling toward him with wide, frightened eyes. "Sam?" He felt a moment of fear for what Sam was thinking, and then the younger Winchester slammed into him. A heartbeat later, there was an explosion and then another and then they slammed into the tunnel wall and rolled behind the boulders. "Shit, Sam!" Bobby pushed at him and looked up as nails clattered into the stone above them and fell around them. He went cold with the knowledge he had almost walked right into it. He would have been shredded by Dean's homemade explosives if not for Sam.

"Sam?" Bobby asked again.

"That…really hurt," Sam said through clenched teeth and tried not to whimper with the pain exploding through his left shoulder and back.

Bobby eased the larger man off to his side and fumbled for his flashlight, shining it over Sam's back where he lay face down on the ground. His jaw fell open as he saw nails embedded through the boys' jacket and seeping blood while guilt coiled sickly in his gut. "God, Sam. You…shit. Dean?"

"Sammy!"

"Over here!" Bobby shouted in reply to Dean's plaintive, worried call. "Easy, Sam. Take it easy," he soothed as Sam panted and grunted in pain beside him. Bobby curved a hand over the back of his head into that shaggy hair and felt his resentment and fear of the boy fall away because the sociopath who'd tried to gut him…that bastard would never have risked death to save him like Sam just had. "You're gonna be ok."

"Sam!" Dean scrambled around the boulders and into the tunnel.

Bobby watched the blood drain from the elder Winchester's face. "Dean, he's ok. I think."

"Doesn't look ok," Dean growled and dropped beside his brother. "Sammy? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Saved my ass," Bobby said and moved his hand aside so Dean could get a better look at him. "I would'a walked right into it if he hadn't linebackered me."

"Always gotta be a damn hero." Dean shone his own light over his brother's back and grimaced, counting seven nails in all and knew that, as bad it was, it could have been a lot worse. "Out now or out later, Sam?"

Sam breathed in and out a few times, trying to overcome the burning pain and nodded that he'd heard. He tried to move and this time couldn't stop the whimper as he sagged back to the tunnel floor. "Now."

"Alright." Dean squeezed the back of Sam's neck, offering comfort and looked up to Bobby with a measuring gaze. It took a moment but Dean saw what used to be there in their adoptive father's eyes there again, honest love and concern, and Dean added his name back to his list. "Gotta finish cleaning out that nest in there. You watch him."

Bobby pulled out his gun and handed Dean both his bombs with a firm nod. "Nothing's gettin' at him. Go on." He spoke it hoarsely around the lump of emotion in his throat. Only an idiot wouldn't have realized that Dean had judged and forgiven him in the space of a heartbeat, and Bobby went a little cold with the knowledge that Dean had truly stopped trusting him with his little brother, even if only for a little while. He watched Dean stalk back out into the cavern and knelt next to Sam putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder. "Just try an' breathe through it, son."

Sam's breath hitched in his chest at Bobby's words. He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to the cold, dirt floor with relief. He jerked when he heard Dean's gun fire. "Dean?"

"Easy. He's alright," Bobby soothed and craned his head to keep the elder Winchester in sight as he moved through the cave. "I can see him. He's just takin' out the stragglers."

Dean stepped over dead pukwudgies littering the ground like deadwood and grinned. His homemade shrapnel bombs had done the job as nearly every dead creature he found was pincushioned with iron nails. "Some days I love my job." He saw one of the creatures a few feet away roll to its back and rows of quills emerge pointed at him. "Nope." Dean fired three rounds into it and gave its shoulder a kick to make sure it was dead. He cleared the rest of the cavern, sighing with regret that he didn't get to use any more of his pipe bombs. Dean's head jerked around, heart pounding in his chest at the sound of gunfire coming from behind him where he'd left Bobby and Sam. He broke into a run and slid into the tunnel.

"Couple stragglers," Bobby told Dean and left his light shining on two dead pukwudgies further down the tunnel.

Dean nodded and took a breath to calm his nerves as he knelt next to Sam again. "Thanks, Bobby," he said gratefully. "Sammy?"

"Still here," Sam said softly, afraid to speak any louder and make the pain worse. "Can we…take them out now?"

"Yeah, buddy." Dean set his gun aside and steeled himself. "Gimme some light, Bobby." He slid his pack off his back and dug through it until he found the pliers he'd brought in case he needed to adjust any of his handiwork. He braced a hand on Sam's bicep and grimaced. "Try not to move too much, Sam."

"No…no problem." Sam rested his forehead on the ground and concentrated on not twitching.

Dean took hold of the end of the first nail with the pliers and pulled it out with a sickening squelch and tossed it away as Sam heaved for air. "Alright, little brother?"

Sam nodded and brought his arm around under his face. "Keep...keep going." He took a mouthful of his own sleeve to bite down on and closed his eyes gratefully when he felt Bobby take hold of his other shoulder.

Dean went about his work grim-faced, for every time Sam jerked, groaned, and otherwise suffered in pain because of him, helping or not, making Sam hurt made him hurt, and he would have given anything if he could have reversed their positions. "Almost, buddy. Two more." Dean leaned over and felt as gently as he could around the last two nails and shook his head; a half inch more to the right and Sam would be dead or dying.

Bobby kept a firm grip on Sam's shoulder, feeling him tremble with pain and exhaustion. He kept his attention on the tunnel and cavern as best he could, not wanting any survivors sneaking up on them like this. He suffered silently with Sam, feeling responsible and pretty damn foolish for how hard he'd pushed Sam away, and, as Dean had put it, kicked the kid for something that wasn't his fault.

"Ok, help me sit him up." Dean set the pliers aside and slid an arm under his brother's chest while Bobby quickly took Sam's good shoulder. They rolled him over, and Dean pulled until Sam was leaning against his shoulder. "You still with us, Sam?" He smiled when he felt his brother's head nod into his shoulder.

Bobby pulled Sam's jacket off gently. "Gotta make sure the bleeding's under control before we do anything else."

Dean nodded. "Grab some water from that lake while I get his shirts off."

"On it."

"Ok, buddy." Dean pulled at the back of his brother's shirts. "Really getting the crap end of this job, huh?"

Sam snorted a weak laugh and bit off a groan while his brother tugged his shirts up to get a look at his back and shoulder. "How bad?"

Dean took in the bloody skin and numerous punctures with a tight smile. "Good news; your questionable good looks are safe." His smile widened when Sam managed an actual chuckle. "Bad news is you're gonna look like a pincushion for a while."

Bobby picked up some sort of hand-fashioned bowl as he stepped over the pukwudgie corpses and went to the edge of the lake. The fires still burning lit the water enough to send light rippling along the roof as he knelt and cleaned the bottom of the bowl of whatever had been in it. He held the bowl under the water to fill it and stared in surprise as the temperature around him dropped and frost began to form at the edge of the small lake.

"What the hell?" Bobby breathed. "Oh, balls!" He let the bowl sink and reached behind the pack on his back as he stood, pulling free a sawed-off shotgun. "Dean! At least one of the little bastards is still alive!" Bobby's eyes widened as glowing shapes rose slowly from the lake water and solidified into men. He was suddenly grateful he'd brought the shotgun along after Sam found that obscure line in the lore; pukwudgies were rumored to be able to control the spirits of the Maushop Indians they killed. "Tei-Pai-Wankas. I'll be damned."

Dean looked out over the boulders into the cavern and cursed. "Shit! Ok, time to get up."

"S'colder," Sam murmured tiredly and got his eyes open. "Tei-Pai-Wankas?"

"You know…" Dean hefted Sam to his feet and steadied him while he swayed. "…just once I'd like your research to be wrong. Bobby!" he yelled and watched the older man backing toward them away from the ghosts. "Use a bomb!"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Right. I should'a thought of that." He turned to shout over his shoulder. "They're back there with you, ya idjit!"

"Dammit." Dean growled and leaned Sam up against the wall of the tunnel. "Get ready to run." Sam gave him a short nod and Dean bent, scooping one of his pipe bombs from the floor and ran out to meet Bobby. "Lighter!"

"Here!" Bobby pulled out a Zippo and flicked it open, lighting the flame as Dean reached him.

Dean slid to a stop and held the fuse out to the flame. It sizzled to life, and he flung the bomb up in a high arc over the lake. "Time to go."

Bobby fired a salt round into the growing number of ghosts before turning and following Dean's sprint back to the tunnel. "Hope you're counting!"

"Six, five, whatever! Just run!" Dean ran around the boulders with Bobby on his heels.

"Got your bag." Sam handed it off to his brother and didn't argue when both men bracketed him, grabbed his arms and pulled him along the tunnel at a run. A few seconds later there was another explosion as they went safely around a bend.

Iron nails and the rock salt Dean had added in would shred the ghosts at least temporarily. "How long is this one?" Dean asked Bobby as they moved as quickly as they could with Dean's flashlight lighting the way.

"Not much further." Bobby gave a glance to Sam's pale face. "I'll take him up with me."

Dean snorted. "No offense but how you plan on pulling his heavy ass up the cliff?"

"I can climb," Sam protested and rolled his eyes as both men told him to shut up in unison. "No respect."

"Nope," Dean agreed cheerfully. He blinked, adjusting his eyes as they emerged into the cave's entrance once more and the daylight filtered in. "Go grab the lines." He took all of Sam's weight, letting Bobby jog ahead.

"Still another pukwudgie somewhere." Sam groaned as his shoulder pulled painfully. He turned in surprise as a strange cry went up in the tunnels behind them.

"I think the last wedgie standing just found the nest. Crap." Dean pulled Sam along to the mouth of the cave. "Stop squirmin'."

Bobby clipped Sam's line back into his harness and attached his own. "It's gonna be pissed."

"Get him up!" Dean ordered and ignored Sam's protests as Bobby swung him out of the cave and starting hauling them both up the side of the cliff. Dean pulled his pack off his shoulders and looked out the entrance. He took a deep breath and made a grab for his own line, teetering on the edge for a moment before righting himself. He clipped it into his harness and bent to his bag.

Dean pulled out one of the pipe bombs and his Zippo, flicked the wheel and waited. He could hear the strange cry coming closer and a moment later a single pukwudgie appeared, running from the tunnel with rage twisting its strange, grey face. It was followed by a small army of Maushop spirits that swept out into the cavern entrance behind it. He lit the fuse of the bomb, stuffed it back into his bag, and stood. Dean swung the bag by the straps and let it sail into the center of the cave.

"To the Bat-rope!" Dean grinned and swung out into the open air. His stomach dropped dizzily, but he kept his eyes on the creature and its pet spirits, counting down in his head. He looked up, seeing that Bobby and Sam were clear, took a breath and let himself slide quickly down the rope. The bomb exploded as Dean dipped below the base of the cave entrance. Iron nails and salt flew out into the morning air and showered down around him. Dean heard the pukwudgie's scream cut off and chuckled.

"Dean? You alright, son?" Bobby shouted down worriedly. He tightened his arm around Sam when the boy shifted, trying to see his brother for himself. "Sam…dammit, stay still."

"Dean?" Sam ducked his head around Bobby's arm and finally got a look at his brother twenty feet below.

"I'm fine!" Dean waved a hand briefly and started pulling himself up the line until he could see into the cavern again. The spirits were gone, and what was left of the pukwudgie was riddled with nails in a bloody stain across the floor. "No more cliffs…ever," Dean said breathlessly and started the climb back to the top. He easily outpaced his brother and Bobby and rolled over the edge back to solid ground once more. He sorted out the lines and called down. "Bobby! Let him go! I'll pull him up!"

Sam nodded at Bobby. "I'm ok." He did his best to get his legs to cooperate and walk up the cliff with Dean pulling from above. He wasn't surprised that Bobby kept pace with him, staying at his side and reached out to steady him each time he faltered.

Dean pulled and grunted with the strain of getting his giant of a brother over the edge. He let the line go and dropped to his knees, taking Sam's good arm and pulling until he was safe. He held a hand out to Bobby as the older man's head popped up and gave him a helping hand up.

Sam lay back on the stone, letting the sun warm his face and decided taking a nap right there didn't sound like such a bad idea. He groaned when Dean pulled on his arm. "M'good here."

Dean snorted. "Dude, you're not sleeping on a damn cliff. Come on. Sit up."

"Aw, let him lay there for a minute." Bobby got to his feet and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Gotta get these lines up before we go anywhere."

Sam sighed gratefully and let his head thump back wearily. The punctures in his shoulder and back were a burning pain that made him twitch, and he could tell some of them were still bleeding sluggishly. "So…you over your fear of heights now?" He cracked his eyes open and looked up at his brother with a smirk. "Saw you pull that Tarzan."

Dean chuckled and settled beside him. "Hell, no. I just didn't want to end up full of holes like you. I know how to duck." He rubbed a hand over his hair and down his face as it reddened. "I was gonna clean up those wounds, but, uh…I kinda blew up the first aid kit."

Sam looked up at him in surprise and his face split in a grin as he started laughing. "You blew it up."

"I was in a hurry!" Dean protested and glared down at him. He frowned and put a hand out, laying the backs of his knuckles against Sam's throat. "Dammit."

"I feel fine." Sam assured his brother, annoyed that he did in fact feel a fever brewing.

"Now I wish I'd sterilized all those damn nails before I used them." Dean groaned and got to his knees while Bobby finished coiling up the climbing lines. "Come on."

Sam sighed with resignation and gave Dean his good arm, letting him pull him to his feet where he swayed. He fought not to go to his knees as dizziness washed over him. "Sorry."

"Take it easy, son." Bobby reached an arm around Sam's waist to help while Dean pulled his brother's arm over his shoulders and grimaced at the feel of his blood-stiffened shirts under his hand. "We'll take it nice and slow."

"Forgot my jacket," Sam mumbled with his head, suddenly having trouble keeping his eyes open. "S'in the cave."

"We'll get you a new one." Dean tightened his grip on Sam's wrist and traded a concerned glance with Bobby. "Just keep walkin', dude."

**_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_ **

Sam blinked heavy eyes open and was surprised to find Bobby, rather than his brother, sitting next to him. "Dean?"

"Getting more ice," Bobby reassured him and wiped the cold, wet cloth over Sam's forehead again. "Your fever spiked. Whatever was on those nails Dean used wasn't good and neither one of us can remember the last time you had your shots."

Sam grimaced. "Not a dog."

Bobby chuckled. "Fine, Tetanus shot then. Stop it." He pushed Sam's hand away when he tried to grab the cloth. Sam had passed out in the car on the drive back while his temperature shot up, leaving Dean to quietly panic even while he smiled and denied it. "How's the pain?"

"Ok." Sam could feel the pull of surgical tape and bandages on his shoulder and down his back but the pain was dulled. "I don't…remember you giving me anything."

"You weren't exactly coherent at the time." Bobby shrugged and smiled. Sam's fever had gone high enough that he and Dean both had had a terrified moment where they thought Sam's wall was cracking again. He rolled his eyes, finding it a little ridiculous that a fever induced seizure was actually a relief for them. He wrung out the cloth and looked at Sam's fever-flushed face. "Sam, I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Sam opened his eyes again, not realizing he'd closed them, and frowned up at the older man. "You haven't done anything."

"Shut up, Sam." Bobby scowled, but there was no heat in it as he wiped the cloth over Sam's face again. "I've been an idiot. Stubborn, pig-headed…well, you get the idea."

"Bobby, you don't..."

"Yeah, I do. I know you don't…can't remember it, and I guess that's a good thing." Bobby shook his head. "I wish I could forget."

"Bobby, what did I do exactly?" Sam asked. Castiel hadn't given him details, and Dean had, of course, put an embargo on Sam digging in to any of the things hidden behind the wall, but he needed to know this…all of it. "Please."

Bobby shook his head. "No way, son." He clasped his hand around Sam's shoulder, and the decision to refuse him was easy because telling him could kill him, and Bobby had finally remembered in the last day just how much he loved this kid; his kid. "Doesn't matter. It wasn't you." He met Sam's now shining eyes and nodded. "It wasn't you, ok? It ain't important."

Sam had to close eyes as the trust and the love he'd missed shone once more in Bobby's eyes. He hadn't realized just how large an ache it had caused inside him to see only mistrust and fear there. He nodded. "Ok."

Bobby sighed as Sam's breathing hitched with emotion. "Take it easy, son. Dean'll smack me if he finds ya like this."

"Like what?" Dean asked as he came into the room with a full ice bucket. "What'd you do? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing," Sam said hastily and wiped a shaking hand over his face. "Just…the fever messing with me. I'm ok. We're ok."

"Uh huh." Dean gave Bobby a long look as he came over to the bed and set the ice bucket down.

"Oh, stop glarin' at me." Bobby rolled his eyes and moved. "I'm gonna go rustle up some food."

"Thanks, Bobby." Sam smiled up at him in gratitude and then groaned when Dean sat and shifted the bed. "Ow."

"Quit whining, princess." Dean smirked. "About damn time you two buried the hatchet." He took the thermometer off the nightstand and tapped Sam's face with it. "Open."

"Dude. I'm fine…mmf!" Sam scowled and cursed around the thermometer when Dean shoved it into his open mouth. "Jerk."

"Bitch." Dean grinned and put the cloth Bobby had been using back in the bowl next to the bed, adding some ice. His eyes quickly scanned his little brother, mentally cataloguing the injuries from his bruised and thorn scratched throat to the holes lining his back and shook his head. "You really took a beating on this one, dude." He laid the cold cloth over his brother's forehead and smirked when Sam's eyes fell closed on a moan of relief. "Lucky for us, Barry the surly lodge owner's letting us stay as long as we need to. You're gonna need a few days."

"No, I can…I'm good," Sam argued and pulled the thermometer out. He didn't want to hold them up.

"Relax, Sammy." Dean took the thermometer, read it, and tossed it back to the table. "You're not going anywhere 'til you get outta triple digits."

"Dammit." Sam flopped back into the bed. "Everything hurts," he admitted finally in a tired voice.

Dean nodded. "I know. Just get some sleep." He tugged the cloth down so it covered Sam's eyes, squeezed his shoulder, and got up. Dean needed some time of his own to get over the guilt of letting Sam get this damn hurt and the relief that Bobby finally seemed ready to accept that what Sam had done without a soul wasn't his fault.

"S'gonna be ok, Dean," Sam said sleepily from the bed.

Dean huffed out a soft laugh and shook his head. He didn't believe that, not for one minute. There were too many things stacked against them…against Sam, but somehow Sam always managed to hold on to hope. "Yeah, Sammy," he said softly and sat where he could see the tv and keep an eye on his sleeping little brother. "I know."

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_The End._


End file.
